We're continuing to go through Deuteronomy 10:12-13 with a fine tooth comb. Today, I want to address the next phrase in the list of requirements from God:
Walk in all His Ways
I remember when I first learned how to water-ski; it was a terrifically awkward experience. Every time the boat started to pull forward, my natural inclination was to straighten out my legs, lean forward, and stand up on top of the water. There was a slight problem, however: that is the exact opposite of what a person needs to do to go from the floating position to being up on top of the water. No matter how many times my teacher told me to lean back, keep my knees bent and relax, I just couldn't find it in myself to do it. Only after several hours of trying (and several gallons of lake water going through my nose) was I finally able to water-ski successfully.
A lot of hobbies and activities are like that. It is very awkward and unnatural to learn how to play an instrument or swing a golf club or shoot a basketball properly. Most every one of us have experienced, at some point or another, the frustration of learning to do something correctly when it goes against our natural inclinations.
When it comes to how we live our lives, our culture preaches a message of "do whatever comes most naturally to you" or "just be yourself" or "you gotta do you." The problem is, like the beginner water-skier or violinist, the proper way to "do life" often runs against our natural inclinations. When God instructs us in this verse to "walk in all His ways," I think it's a bit like Him telling us "I have a way that I want you to live your life, but I want you to know that it's going run against your natural inclinations. Because of your sinful, fallen nature, you think you know how your life should operate, but I have a better way. It's going to feel awkward, it's going to frustrate you sometimes, but in the end, it leads to the truest life that you will ever find."
Does this surprise you? Doesn't it make sense if God is perfect and we are imperfect that our paths would diverge at some point? Proverbs 14:12 says "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." Last week, when driving around an unfamiliar city with my wife, I thought I had a sense of the way back to our hotel, but in the end it led to...well, not death but just a golf course. Much like how our external sense of direction can get messed up, our internal moral compass is easily misled. Only the heart that is submitted to the ways of God will be able to navigate the twists and turns of life successfully.
This verse is intensely practical. It means that our day-to-day activities should be challenged by the teachings of the scripture. It means that our emotional reactions to life events should be challenged by the scripture. It means that we should daily, hourly seek the guidance of the Spirit as we face our daily and hourly tasks and situations.
It also means that we must rely daily upon the grace of God as we know that we will not always "get it right." Salvation is not a matter of works but of grace. Once we understand that our salvation is a gift from God, it frees us up to pursue God's ways out of a sense of love for Him. Our pursuit of God's ways will not be an arduous climb or a life-sucking task list, but a joyous, life-giving pursuit of the God who has made us and knows best how we ought to live our lives.
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