Walk After the Lord Your God
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Deuteronomy 13:4
You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and cleave to him.
Warren Buffett has decided to begin giving away his fortune, estimated at about $40 billion. He had apparently originally planned to bequeath the money after his death, but will now begin the process with the first donation to the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation in July of this year. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it is coincidental that this headline coincides with the e-mailed scripture passage I received this morning!
Now granted, this type of generosity makes headlines! Buffet will actually only make a dent – 85% of his accumulated wealth – in his portfolio. Still . . . I wouldn’t give a way 85% of what I have! Would you? We may think, well, I couldn’t; I have bills to pay, and obligations. And of course that’s true. We are tasked with being responsible stewards. I can’t help but wonder though . . . I could certainly cut down on my grocery bill. And we made a decision to buy a larger house last year. True, 85% of what I have isn’t much – and I honestly struggle with giving the percentage that we give to our church and the money and goods we give to charitable organizations.
I don’t know anything else about Buffett. I don’t know his personality, his past, his ethics, or how he treats his family. But I have enough of an image to talk about him! He’s a big-picture thinker. He’s obviously a man who doesn’t have an attitude of deserving what he has. He sees himself as a citizen of the world. He believes in giving back. I’m pretty sure he follows the basic instructions stated in Deuteronomy.
This verse seems pretty much like a “no-brainer” at first look. Walking with God is tough, though and Adam and Eve blew their chance a long, long, long time ago. Today we have even more temptations and distractions. And our sense of entitlement seems to have evolved in direct proportion to our ability to create and produce and consume more and more. Eden was a wonderful place. Adam and Eve strolled through the garden and chatted with God on a regular basis. They were so in touch and in tune with Him that they simply needed to call out to Him and He was right there – actually he was always there, but they kept forgetting, and so called for Him.
I notice that serving God and cleaving to Him are intertwined in this one sentence: with walking with Him, fearing (as in awe) Him, and keeping His commandments while obeying His voice. It’s all interwoven. It seems as if it would have been so simple to just enjoy paradise! What were Adam and Eve thinking? All of this is prompting me to take a long hard look at my life, and the resources I have available. I’m also reflecting upon how much (or little) I rely upon God to meet my daily needs. Of course I know He’s involved in the big picture! I struggle with giving over the little, mundane things in my life. “Can’t I be in charge of something, God?”
God will allow us the freedom to choose His way or our own. That’s how we all got into this fix in the first place! Fortunately, because of Christ, we’re allowed to change our minds and run back to Him in fear and trembling – like children awaking from a nightmare, we call out to Him at those times, “Don’t ever leave me on my own again!” Really . . . He doesn’t. He’s big enough to let us think we’re in charge though.
My prayer today is that you walk after your God and fear Him. And you listen for His voice in how to serve Him and His world.
Mary
