123. God’s Command is a Promise
Deuteronomy13:4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandment, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
The “shall” is a command in the Hebrew language, but it is also a future verb containing a promise that you will do these things. One Day, finally, after resurrection and judgment, in eternity, in the new heaven and new earth, you will do these things and live this way. The promise is also coming true to life in continuous active present time, as the Lord is conforming us to His image. We are looking and acting more like Jesus. We take the process of sanctification as a promise. The Holy Spirit dwelling and ruling in our spirits is making us holier and better people. Maybe you don’t see the progress, but God does and He knows the next steps.
Get a load of these six exciting promises: You will walk after the Lord. “Walk” is the Biblical metaphor for the day-to-day activity of living, behaving, acting, speaking, deciding and doing like Jesus does. You will look more and more Christ-like.
You will fear the Lord. Fear, in the Biblical context, simply means believe God and trust Him. It involves knowing His wrath and displeasure against our sins and also knowing and experiencing His love, mercy, and the forgiveness of sins. Fear is simply pure faith.
You will keep his commandment. You will love the Lord your God with all you heart. Everything within you loves God and it shows in love for neighbor. This simple response to God’s love produces a good life.
You will obey His voice. Obedience demands love and trust. Love, because God has first loved us; trust, because God really is good, He knows best, and His ways are always a blessing for our good.
You will serve Him. ”You shall love the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. [Matthew 4:10].” Luther says, “God does not need your service, but other people do, and that is how you serve the Lord.”
You will cleave unto Him. You will cling to and hold on tight to the Lord in all your ways, and especially when the winds and storms of life become rough. We can do this because He is always near us, with us, and in us. Confess and believe, and hang on for dear life.
These are not commands that we must work up the effort to do them, but they are promises that the Lord will work the doing and keeping in us, and out of us. When God keeps His promises and we believe them, life is truly awesome.