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What on Earth Am I Here For?
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Tuesday, September 9, 2003
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for caring enough about us to teach us Your ways! As we focus on discipleship today, I am so grateful that You have provided Your written word, the Bible, for our guidance and direction for all matters of faith and life. I praise You for the faithful scribes who wrote down and transmitted Your word down through the centuries, and for Your hand in preserving it when so many have sought to destroy it. Thank You for Your truth. I pray that You will fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may live boldly and confidently the truth of Your word in my life today and always. Mold me into a fully-devoted follower of Your son, Jesus, a true disciple. May my life always be one of faithful obedience, that You may be pleased, and that others may be drawn to You through the example I live out in the power of the Spirit. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Verses*
Deuteronomy 6:1-13
1“These are all the commands, laws, and regulations that the LORD your God told me to teach you so you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2and so you and your children and grandchildren might fear the LORD your God as long as you live. If you obey all his laws and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3Listen closely, Israel, to everything I say. Be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. 7Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. 8Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. 9Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10“The LORD your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land filled with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12be careful not to forget the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 13You must fear the LORD your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.Reflecting on Discipleship
What is the connection between what we do and the blessings of God in our lives?
Exploring Discipleship
What process does God give the people of Israel for passing the faith along to their children? (6:1-9)
What concern about discipleship is addressed in the concluding verses of today’s Scripture? (6:10-13)
Understanding Discipleship and My Purpose
Why do you suppose that God connected the Israelites worship of Him and Him alone, with discipleship?
According to today’s Scripture is it easier to follow God in times of difficulty or times of ease? Why?
Applying Discipleship to My Daily Life
What one action will you take as a result of having read today’s Scripture?
Moses and Discipleship
According to today’s reading discipleship is all about commitment—100% full-on commitment to God. God used Moses to tell the people of Israel that He is the one and only God, and that He must be worshiped with all of our heart, soul and strength. Discipleship is not a matter of giving a little of our lives to God, or even most—but of our whole lives to Him! God made it clear that He expected the Israelites to learn His ways, to live His ways and to pass His ways on to their children. This process IS discipleship. Discipleship is not simply learning information—memorizing Scriptures—as important as learning information is. Discipleship is not even learning God’s ways and living them in our daily lives through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit—as important as learning and living God’s ways is. Discipleship is learning God’s ways, living God’s ways and then passing on God’s ways to the next generation! Discipleship is not completed in our lives until we have passed on the truth that we know and live to our children, or if we have no biological children, until we have passed it on to someone else’s children. Today’s reading makes it clear that the primary responsibility for discipleship is held by parents. We who are biological parents are to pass on the faith we have received to our children in our words and actions. It is to be the pressing reality of our lives—we are to share the Good News when we get up, when we lie down, when we go out and when we come in—in other words ALL the time! This is THE work of life.
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