Deut 10:12 - 11:9 TLV said:
In today's Torah portion God is talking to the children of Israel and telling them what He wants. He wants them to love Him and to respect Him. He tells them they need to keep all the instructions that He gave them, why? Because keeping them will bring blessings to them, a good and prosperous life. He says to keep them so that they will be strong when they go in to possess the land that God had given them.
He reminds them of all the things He did for them in delivering them out of Egypt. He is the God of Gods and Lord of Lords and He does not play favorites. He cares about the fatherless and the widows and He even cares about the foreigners among them and He makes sure they are fed and clothed too. He tells them to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind. Now where in New Testament have we heard that?
In Matt 22:37 Jesus says it. So he's quoting from Exodus and Deuteronomy here. That's all God wants from us. Out of that love for God we will follow, at the very least the two that were given us by Jesus, 1, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and 2), love your neighbor in the same way that you love yourself. Now how those two commands play out in our life is pretty much layed out for us in the 10 Commandments (Ex 20:1 - 17, Deut 5:6 - 18)
Regarding our relationship with God:
1. "I am Adonai your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me".
2. "Thou shalt not make for yourselves a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven, above, or on the earth, below or in the water under the earth".
3. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain".
4. "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy".
5. "Honor they father and mother".
Regarding our relationship with others:
6. "Thou shalt not kill".
7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery".
8. "Thou shalt not steal".
9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor".
10. "Thou shalt not covet your neighbors house, your neighbors wife, your neighbour's servants, animals, or anything else".
Allowing these manifestations of your love for God to flow through your life will not save you, only repentance and believing on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and reliance on his blood shed on the cross to cover your sins saves you. But keeping your thoughts on these instructions will help you in knowing the right thing to do in whatever situation. (Jms 4:17) And when we need help to do what we know is right, we can receive the strength we need by calling on his name. (Phil 4:13) When we fall short, we repent, pick ourselves up, take hold of the hand of God and move on. We don't beat ourselves up or stop trying just because we fall.
Some additional scriptures showing these instructions still apply today:
