Read: Deuteronomy 28

How am I at being told what to do and what not to do?

There’s something deep inside me that wants independence and control. Following ‘rules’ seems boring, lacking adventure and oppressive.

In today’s part of the Bible, Moses reminds God’s people Israel who God is, how he wants to bring good into the lives of his people, and what he requires them to obey.

But, later on, was Jesus a rules kind of a man?

Well, he did reinforce the commands God gave his people Israel by saying they wouldn’t be changed one tiny bit. However, he also turned tables over in the Temple and had harsh words to say about the religious rules of the day.

Jesus invites us to follow him, and that requires obedience. We have a choice though – he never forces our hand. Making decisions and deciding to stick with what God has shown us to do, even when it seems not to make sense and is inconvenient, is what obedience looks like for me. But I’ll do it, out of love for him.

As a parent I want my children to say sorry when they’ve done wrong and apologise to whoever it is they’ve done wrong to. Regularly the sorry takes ‘encouragement’ and when it comes, it can lack a genuine repentance! A muttered ‘sorry’ with attitude and no eye contact is quite normal! With God, my actions can do what’s required, but my heart can be far from following what’s been asked for.

In Matthew 15:8 Jesus says, ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’

Jesus calls us into a great adventure with him and, in my experience, it involves obeying where he makes it clear, even if it’s difficult and inconvenient.

As I share the good news of Jesus, I don’t, however, want to be someone who merely seems to follow and obey him outwardly – I want my heart to follow and obey him.