What Does God Require of You?

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong Heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set His heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” 

~Deuteronomy 10:12-17

Sometimes I don’t think I do enough for God, or to prove I love Him, and I feel like a lazy Christian if I take time off from “doing.” But the above verses set me straight every time. God doesn’t love us because of what we do, or even because of who we are. God loves us because of who He is. He requires only that we respect Him and honor Him in all that we do. It is nothing less than how we should treat our spouses, our kids, parents, and other people. Everyone wants to be treated with respect, including God. Our lives are full of things that we must do every day—get up, go to work, do laundry, take care of kids, mow the lawn, take out the garbage, sweep the floors, wash the dishes, feed the dog—the list is endless, and it makes us weary. No matter how many times we wash something, it gets dirty again, no matter how many times we cook something, we have to do it again in a few hours, no matter how many times we sweep something, it’s going to need it again later. Our chores never end and sometimes I think that’s how we see our service to God, it’s one big, never-ending chore that if we don’t do it, we’ll get sent to hell. But that isn’t what God wants from us.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).”

God’s great love, grace and mercy is what saves us, not anything that we do. God doesn’t want us to prove our devotion through works, because we are human, and He knows that we’ll just get worn out trying to prove ourselves. It’s what we do every day. We work ourselves into frustration trying to prove how good we are, or how much we love our families, or trying to impress a boss but God isn’t impressed by what we do. God wants our love and devotion, and we give that by accepting Christ as our Savior and following Him. That’s what impresses God—the blood of Jesus Christ covering us. So, rest in the Lord, knowing  there is nothing more you can do to impress Him. If you are saved by grace, then know that the Lord is already so impressed with you and all He wants is for you to love Him with all your heart, mind, and being.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock (Isaiah 26:3-4).”

Read Ezekiel 17-25

© 2018 Marie McGaha