“But it was because the LORD loved you…” (Deuteronomy 7:8, NIV)
Words, little as they may be, don’t go unnoticed. They aren’t incidental or purposeless. Rather, they can possess strength so great that they have been likened to piercing weaponry.
“The pen is mightier than the sword,” wrote Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839. His observation, planted in the midst of a historical-political play, was not new, but his choice of verbiage may have been. Powerful words about the power of words.
Scripture, too, speaks of the potency of words, especially those inspired by God: “The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
So, let me ask you: where do your thoughts go when you read the words in today’s clipped passage from Deuteronomy? Do these words have power over you?
Before we look fully at what these words might stir up in us, let’s make sure we know their context. Moses was preaching the law, we’ll say, to the Jewish people not long before his death. But this was the preaching of pastor more than a prophet. He was not “laying down the law” so much as he was covering the people with it, showing them how it was their protection and pleasure.
Then he came to this: the reason God had “set his affection” on them. It was not because they were mighty or numerous or obedient. It was “because [he] loved you.” That’s it. If you read on, you’ll see that this love was affixed in an oath to the earliest generations and demonstrated by the redemption of the people from harsh slavery. And here was Moses, saying this love had never gone away; it carried them even now. Simple. Beautiful.
When a golfer’s swing is fluid, we can forget all the mechanics that go into it. In the case of God, we sometimes take the opposite tack. We focus on details—he wants me to do what?!—and forget the simplest thing: he loves us.
So think for a minute. Think about this love. It is unmerited by anything we’ve done or become. It is given to us as God’s people, but also to each of us as a person in the household of faith (which we know by the way Jesus ministered with love to individual people). It is from God—GOD! You are loved by GOD! And therefore, there is no love like it, none greater or deeper or richer.
“Because God loved you.”
You need no more words than that!
—
Jeff Hopper
July 14, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.