The best life of obedience is rarely a life of milk and honey. Oftentimes, it is deep purpose and significant sacrifice for enduring impact. Are you ready to sign up for that? God would like to know if you are humble enough and trusting enough to live that life he has for you…
1 This book records Moses’ address to the people of Israel when they were camped in the valley of the Arabah in the wilderness of Moab, east of the Jordan River.
1 “You must obey all the commandments I give you today. If you do, you will not only live, you will multiply and will go in and take over the land promised to your fathers by the Lord. 2 Do you remember how the Lord led you through the wilderness for all those forty years, humbling you and testing you to find out how you would respond, and whether or not you would really obey him? 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to both you and your ancestors. He did it to help you realize that food isn’t everything, and that real life comes by obeying every command of God.
Deuteronomy 1:1, 8:1-3 TLB
This is a famous portion of scripture, even though it is masked by the paraphrasing of the Living Bible version. Verse 3 is more recognizable as the answer Jesus uses toward Satan in his temptation in the desert: “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Real life comes by obeying every command of God. This is very bold statement, made on the doorstep of the promised land. We see that it relates back to the forty years they spent in the desert, in which God humbled them and tested them. He wanted to see how they would respond, and whether they would obey him.
God did this by allowing his people to go hungry and then feeding them with manna. We know the story. They grumbled. They rebelled. They wanted to go back to slavery. For many of them, living in obedience during difficult times was worse than living in slavery to Egyptians. This was not, in their view, real life. Real living did not look like this. This was not the fulfillment of ‘promise’ in their eyes…
Rather than God testing Jesus in his desert, Satan was the one making Jesus promises. He couldn’t fulfill them, and Jesus saw through his schemes. Rather than bowing to Satan and rather than exercising his own power to live as a king on earth, Jesus humbled himself and found the path to real life through obedience to his Father.
‘This is the life!’ Think about a moment when you would exclaim this sentiment. We all have definitions of what real life is. Oftentimes, comfort and enjoyment are at the forefront. From a spiritual perspective, the best life comes from obedience to God. Even if you’re hungry and relying on manna, the path to the best life is not found in our pursuit of happiness and comfort.
In the case of Israel, God actually promised more than relationship. He promised long life, multiplication, and a land for his people. Their obedience would be rewarded. Jesus’ obedience resulted in a life of service, ending in death on a cross. The best life of obedience is rarely a life of milk and honey. Oftentimes, it is deep purpose and significant sacrifice for enduring impact.
And it is absolutely worth it.
Amen.
Marc Kinna
marckinna 