Humbly Follow His commands

Article for November 26, 2025, Thanksgiving

Deuteronomy 8:1 1“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.

Let us take this as a statement made to each of us who fear and love the Lord.  The commands are still the same and are augmented by the great commands given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord to which He tells us to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbor. (Mark 12:30-31).  The land that we shall possess is the new earth and the new heavens, in the realm of Heaven. (Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13).

Deuteronomy 8:2 2And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

The reason for your life’s journey, (which is your wilderness), is stated right here.  Our life is a test and an upbringing.  We are to be humble, and our hearts are to be for our Lord and creator and savior.  We should, through our heart, (given to us by God), love and follow God’s commands.  God’s commands were given to us out of God’s love for us.  These commands followed, assures us a godly life.  What father would not give good guidance to his children so that they can grow to be matured in all they do.

Deuteronomy 8:3 3And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Our times of trial is to beckon us to follow our God and depend on Him in times of great strife.  God has given us food from heaven though it is not manna. We can eat from the ground and from the herd, but we cannot survive without the word of God.  This is the guidance we should strive for, the word of God, as each word from God is His love for our survival.

Deuteronomy 8:4–6 4Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.

God is a loving Father who disciplines His children out of love for His children of which we all are.  God is always finding ways to provide for us those things we need.  God give us strength to endure even when we cannot recognize it.  Though we might cry for help thinking God stopped caring, God cares even more and sends help from places we do not expect. 

We should always thank God for His discipline and look for the answer to what lesson we should learn.  It is God’s discipline that keeps us in line with our God and in His ways.  Think of this God only disciplines those He loves.  (Revelation 3:19, Hebrews 12:6).

Deuteronomy 8:7–9 7For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

Sounds like heaven to me.  God is leading us to the promised land.  Though no one can truly tell us what Heaven will be like, maybe this passage gives us a glimpse of the new earth.  Whatever heaven looks like, and the new earth and new heavens look like we know we will love it, and it will be filled with joy.  In fact, Heaven is so good Jesus died for our sins to be able to share in this inheritance of honey and joy.

Deuteronomy 8:10 10And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”

      And what shall we eat but the fruit from the tree of life.  And what shall we drink but the living water.  And whom shall we worship but the maker and giver of all good things, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord of all.  Amen.

      Written by Pastor Curtis A. May