Require

“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”  Deuteronomy 10:12

Require – I have so much trouble with this.  I often catch myself thinking that God is interested in what I am doing, that He measures my worthiness on the basis of how well I am handling the tasks before me.  I end up feeling inadequate.  I want to please Him so I work as hard as I can to successfully complete the tasks I think He sends my way.  Then I end up doubting myself, wondering if I am still trying to make things happen by carrying the load on my own shoulders.  I fall into the trap of thinking that God expects me to take care of myself by doing all the things I can.  I forget that what He asks of me is all about my devotion to Him, not about how many things I can get done.

Do you ever feel this way?  You know that God loves you and wants to provide for you.  You want to serve Him.  But suddenly you discover that you are overwhelmed with “to do” lists.  You start thinking that all the “to do” items are part of God’s program for your life, so you have to do them all, excellently.  You find that you can’t.  Your self worth erodes.  The lists get longer.  You have become a victim of the cult of “doing”.  How freeing it is to realize that God is perfectly capable of “doing” all He wants done in your life.  What He asks of you is not more things to do but rather a deeper devotion to Him, even if you aren’t doing anything else. 

Sha’al is the word for “ask”.  The translation “require” seems a bit strong, but of course, when God asks, we better comply.  Still, it’s nice to know that God asks for our devotion.  He doesn’t ask us to complete the big “to do” list.  He wants our love and commitment.  He wants our deepest desires for Him.  We are the ones who rush to perform as a substitute for passion.  We do it to each other, to our children and our spouses.  And we do it to God.  We jump on the “doing” treadmill instead of resting on the embrace of passionate devotion.  I don’t know about you, but I am worn out from doing.  Still, I have to remind myself that God asks for my embrace, not my endeavors.