Living in the wilderness is difficult. It can be very easy to overlook the difficulties the Israelites faced in the wilderness.…Yet, the wilderness does not cause rebellion. The wilderness merely reveals the rebellion in our hearts. We, like them, complain, though God has provided daily manna for us.

I work with youth aged students everyday. They tend to hate rules. Some outright rebel against the rules. Others look for the edges of the boundaries that have been set, and toe that line. Those students want to know how far they can get without “sinnning” or trespassing over the line. If we are honest, we all tend to be like this. This is not a student problem. It is a sin and a flesh problem. In Deuteronomy 10:12-15, we see God telling the Israelites that His Laws are meant for their good.

¹² “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? ¹⁴ Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. ¹⁵ Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.

What does God require from His people? Is it not for us to live Him? Is it not for us to serve Him? Do we presume so much on grace that we believe God does not require us to take up our cross and follow Him? For those who think there are no requirements in the New Covenant, they may be shocked to read Jesus’ words in John’s gospel account.

Read More