It's personal

I'm ready to get to the Ten Commandments. I am looking forward to a fresh think about the old commandments. Each morning I open Deuteronomy and start reading verses and again this  morning, I stop just short of The Commandments.

The first five verses in chapter five include thought provoking verbs like:  Hear, Learn, Follow.  I like verbs because they give me a list to  follow.  These verbs are natural instructions for the Ten Commandments.

Moses also reminds the Israelites that the covenant with God is personal.  God made the covenant with those present, not their fathers, and they were present at the mountain and saw the fire with their own eyes.  It was so personal they were afraid of the fire that God spoke through.

I have obedience on my mind this morning not just because of the Ten Commandments.  I have two five month old  puppies.  They are cute.  Good thing.  They are a handful!

Mickey, the male, is happy and sensitive.  He is also a bit clueless.  I am convinced that if he did not have the distraction of his sister he would be completely trained.  Alone he comes when I call.  He follows me everywhere.  He goes to the door to potty.  He responds to a simple "no" and stops whatever.  Unless Molly is around to distract him. He is a follower.

Molly is really cute.  Good thing because she is stubborn and willful.  She obeys only when she wants.  She is really smart and is sure she is smarter than me. I think she likes me but I don't think she respects me every day.  She thinks she is the leader.

It is no coincidence that last night Molly and I went "head to head."  I may have made a momentary impression because it took her awhile to warm up to me this morning.  She's curled up sleeping next to me now as usual, but I've learned she uses her cuteness as a ploy to get her way.

The puppies demonstrate two of our problems with hearing, learning and following God.  We are easily distracted and we are selfish.

Obedience to God is very personal.  We try to make it impersonal by imposing corporate rules, stigmas and expectations.  Yet God offers each of use a personal relationship and expects obedience to Him to be part of that personal relationship.

I need to learn to be a follower like Mickey, yet only follow God not myself like Molly.  Fortunately for the puppies, today is a new day and they start with a clean slate.  They aren't thinking about last night.  Dogs live in the moment.

Fortunately for me, God is loving and forgiving.  I may carry my failures around to remember them but God has put them as far as the East is from the West.  I get a new day to Hear God, Learn from God and Follow God.