Good morning! I hope all is well in your world. I am praying for all the current commenters and all of those who have been with us in the past today, that God will speak to your heart and help you understand Him more today.

Today in Deuteronomy there is once again much emphasis on obeying Gods laws. I believe that some of the reason for that emphasis was because of the culture and all the different gods. There was also the learning process to trust the one true living God. And too, they needed to learn that it was impossible to perfectly keep the law on their own which meant they had to rely on God's grace and forgiveness through sacrifices and offerings. However, in addition to that, I think there was a real show of love by God especially in wanting the people to obey the Ten Commandments. God knew that if they would obey those ten basic laws, their lives would be much better and happier. The same is true today. Some people believe that the Ten Commandments are no longer necessary because Jesus caused them to be done away with on the cross. I agree that Christ on the cross did away with the need for sacrificial slaying of animals in order to be forgiven. The thing I don't agree with is that they no longer matter. They still point out that to try and be saved by our own efforts is useless just like it was in Moses' time. The coolest thing to me though is the love of God that shows through. Just as it was when God first gave those Ten Commandments, we will be much better off and happier if we at least try to follow His instructions. Not for salvation, but because we know that He has our best interests at heart.

Thanks for sharing your perspective, Jim. The Ten Commandments definitely show us God's clear "entry level" standard for living in community as He intended. Any community that tries to live them out will be a better, safer and more relational community.

Marc, you pointed out a phenomonon; syncetism, that I think is making quite a resurgence in our time. I meet or hear more and more people who have a decent understanding of God, and perhaps even the teachings of Jesus, but don't find their entire spiritual instruction from the Bible. They combine ideas of humanism, new-age or eastern beliefs into the equation as well to create their own picture of what good living is and that gaining more and more enlightenment from these various sources will get them closer to heaven or whatever goal they believe in. I'm not entirely sure how to share the idea that these pursuits are in fact further from God's heart without sounding narrow-minded or old fashioned about it. I know it's not really my job to worry about it and that God will change people's hearts, but how can we more effectively help these people find truth in God's ways alone? I think a lot of intellectual people have real difficulty with the idea that God would choose only one culture and one way to share Himself with mankind.

Just something I think about, I'd appreciate anyone's input here.

I think you're right, Nate. Syncretism is a big problem today - and not just outside of Christianity. I'm not sure how to approach that concern either, other than just continuing to live and teach what God presents about Himself in the Bible. Our culture is definitely poly-theistic in the 1st century sense - people worship every single good idea that comes along, blending them all together to create a homemade personalize spirituality. It's another expression of our extreme individualism. We don't take any spiritual tradition in whole cloth, we make a quilt of our own. But of course that reveals that we think our judgment is superior to the spiritual traditions that we are taking from.

I guess for me it becomes all the more important to really become deeply familiar with scripture so that other ideas can be more easily evaluated against my understanding of God's heart and will.