Do what is right and good!

"You should diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you..." ~ Deuteronomy 6:17-18a

I am (in case you hadn't noticed) reading in Deuteronomy these days and a few things struck me about the way in which the law was given to the Israelites. 1. The LORD your God - personal, distinct, powerful - this is how God refers to Himself when addressing the Israelites, saying "your God" over and over again. This is not just any god, this is the LORD your God! 2. God commands obedience, but He gives reasons, both in the way of reminders of how He has been faithful in the past and what the rewards or punishments will be in the future. 3. In this particular verse the Israelites were exhorted to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD. It puts me in mind of Joshua 1:8: "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success." Diligently keep the commandments and be careful to do according to all that is written in the book of the law. God is calling us to an active, intentional obedience founded on an ever increasing knowledge of His word. How terribly convicting this is!