(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 6:1-25)

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Hear, O Church: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

Hear, O Church means that we are to listen, to open our ears, and not only our ears but to open our hearts as well. The Lord our God means that He is ours and we are His. Through Jesus Christ, we have been united with Him, the Lord of Israel, the God that created the heavens and earth, the beginning and the end, our all in all. That the Lord is one, means that there is no other, that we do not bow down, worship, give offerings to any other God besides our Lord.

Yet, is the Lord, one in our life? Is He the Lord our God? Or if we are honest with ourselves, and if we reveal the true nature of our hearts, do we find that we have other gods? That we have many lords, and our hearts and lives belong to many?

This was a warning to Israel, and it is the same challenge we face today. As Moses reminds this new generation of Israel before entering into the Promised Land, so do his words speak to our souls today.

5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

Perhaps only we can answer this for ourselves, for many of us close off our heart for the world to see. What is on our hearts? To love the Lord our God with all our heart and with our soul and with all our strength? Or, not all, not everything, not our entire life and being, but only some?

Do we save some for God, and some for others? Do we love the Lord our God with part of our heart, so that we can love the world, love our own desires, love other gods as well? Israel’s problem was never that they completely forgot the Lord, but rather, in addition to worshiping God, they desired to have others.

Their hearts were split to the many and not devoted to the one. As Moses reminds this new generation of Israel before entering into the Promised Land, so do his words speak to our souls today. May we reflect on our own hearts, and take an inventory of the current status of our relationship with Him.

Hear, O Church: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 6