READING:
One-year plan: Deuteronomy 27-30
Two-year plan: Job 34-35, Acts 26:12-23
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If I had to figure out the gospel on my own . . . or if I had to chase down Jesus . . . or I had to somehow attain heights to know the gospel prior to my becoming a believer at age 13, I would have been in deep, deep trouble. I would not have known where to look, nor would I have recognized it had I unexpectedly run across the gospel in the first place. It was all new territory for me, and I was not ready to understand it.
Today, though, I read God’s word to His people as He cautioned them about blessings and curses and called them to covenant renewal—and I learn again about the accessibility of the message: “This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach. It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it” (Deut 30:11-14). Through the word God gave through Moses, He made his commands clear to His people. In the words of my former colleague, Daniel Block, “through Moses’ speeches Yahweh’s revelation is brought near to the present generation, and the people are given a mind to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear.”*
Paul would later use these verses to show just how accessible the gospel is to us, too (Rom 10:6-8). God has already sent Christ to us to die in our place, and He has already raised Him from the dead. We simply have to repent and believe—and we have so much to be thankful for!
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Have you thought about the truth that the message of the gospel is near to us?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, I praise You that we do not have to ‘chase down’ the good news.”
MONDAY’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Deuteronomy 31-34
Two-year plan: Job 36-37, Acts 26:24-32
MEMORIZATION VERSE (March 1-15):
“He is your glory and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.” (Deut 10:21)
* Block, D. I. (2012). The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy (T. Muck, Ed.; p. 708). Zondervan.
