In the book of Deuteronomy, the nation of Israel is camped on the east side of the Jordan River in the land of Moab. They’ve been living in the desert for 40 years, but it’s now time to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land of Canaan.

Before they cross over though, Moses delivers God’s final instructions before they leave the desert and begin enjoying the land He promised give to the descendants of Abraham. In Deuteronomy 5, Moses is recalling the time 40 years earlier when God gave the Israelites the 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai:

Moses summoned all Israel and said:

Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

As I’ve been reading and teaching through Deuteronomy recently, I’ve been fascinated with the first two of the 10 commandments. So simple. No other gods. No idols.

I didn’t say easy. Just simple.

No other gods.

No idols.

Why? Because Yahweh, our God, is jealous. He created us for Himself. For His pleasure. He doesn’t want to share us.

Is it as easy for you as it is for me to forget that very simple truth?

I exist for God’s pleasure. So do you. Not our own.

In the next chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses goes on to say:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Centuries later, when Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, He said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

I guess I wouldn’t have been surprised if He had pointed back to the first of the 10 commandments and said the greatest commandment was to have no other Gods before Yahweh. In other words, before Jesus Himself.

He didn’t though. He said the greatest commandment was to love God. Heart, soul and mind. We are to love him with our total being.

We most fully express our love for Him when we obey Him. Look again at what He said right after telling us to love Him:

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

When was the last time you felt God’s commandments upon your heart?

What would it be like if when we got together with family or friends we actually talked about how to love God more and be more faithful to obey His commandments?

What if we ordered our days in such a way that we encountered symbols of God’s commandments and places we’d written them down?

What if reading and meditating on and talking about God’s commands was a way to express our love to Him? A way to fulfill the greatest commandment?

When we boil it all down, I think we’ll find that’s what’s left is the simple command to love God and to express that love by trusting Him enough to obey Him. Even when we don’t feel like it. Even when it doesn’t make sense.