When Israel sinned in the revelry of the golden calf incident at Mt. Sinai, among the things that occurred was that the tables of stone on which God wrote the Ten Commandments were destroyed (Exodus 32). They were soon renewed (Exodus 34), and the matter was revisited in Deuteronomy 10. Moses reminded the people of their sin and iniquity in preparation of exhorting them to obedience. As he moved from the review to the exhortation he asked:

“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 and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

Moses’ question and answer actually appear on a couple of other occasions in the writings of the prophets, and is a wonderful point for us to review from time-to-time even today. So I’d like to ask you to consider, as did they so long ago, just what does the Lord your God require of you?

The short answer is to fear God and keep His commandments. In fact, Solomon in his inspired wisdom described this as being “the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). When men fear God they do indeed keep His commandments. The two just naturally go together. When we fear God:

• We worship faithfully.
• We give liberally.
• We pray frequently.
• We serve joyfully.
• We speak unashamedly.

Obviously, when God is not feared these things are ignored. So, how are you doing? Not you as in all the members of this congregation collectively, but rather you individually… how are you doing at fearing and serving God? Let’s look at two of these matters that will reveal the others.
• Do you fear God and keep His commandments by being faithful in your attendance of church services? The simple truth is many of us are not. But remember, we are only talking about you. Do you make the church a high priority, or is it something you will be a part of only when there is nothing else to do? I talk to so many who say they know they need to be more faithful and I see how miserable they are when they don’t. But few of them are really willing to change that. “What does the LORD your God require of you?”

• Do you fear God and keep His commandments on giving? God’s commands are that giving be generous, planned, and cheerful (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). If any one of these points is lacking we are not keeping His commands. And if we are not keeping His commands we would have a hard time saying that we fear Him.

“The Lord's name is to be praised.” (Psalm 133:3). God finds the greatest praise in an obedient life. So again, “what does the LORD your God require of you?”

~Tom Lynch