It Ain't Rocket Surgery September 22, 2014

¹¹ “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.  Deuteronomy 30:11-14 ESV

In the Christian's life there will be those unfathomable concepts, those immeasurable depths, those incomprehensible ideas.  But today's verses from Deuteronomy remind us that God's primary expectations for us do not require three degrees from a seminary to understand.  We do not have to "ascend to heaven" or "go over the sea" to find God's word for Christians.  It is near to us so that we can do it.

Thousands of years after Moses wrote Deuteronomy, Jesus distilled God's expectations down into two commands.


³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Matthew 22:35-39 (ESV)

No interstellar voyages required.  No ocean cruise necessary.  Love God.  Love others.

Sure there will be challenges with application.  We will be faced with decisions that will require prayer, study, and counsel.  But at the end of the day, if we will love God and others, the world will be a better place.