Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28 (NRSV)
Read Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28 on biblegateway.com
Verse 18You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Verse 19Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Verse 20Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, Verse 21so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
Verse 26See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: Verse 27the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today; Verse 28and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.
Devotion
On this Memorial Day we are called by scripture to remembrances:
• of God’s miraculous care throughout the wilderness experience;
• of God’s promises: as God provided abundantly in the past, so God will provide for the future;
• of Israel’s sinful past, especially the gold calf incident and the tragic consequences;
• of that, if you obey God’s order, you will experience God’s overflow and God’s ovation of his: “Well done, good and faithful servants.”
God so loved the world that God created a seventh day feast for each week, to remember all that God has done for us this week – and a first day Sunday memorial feast to receive in the Eucharist the blessed gifts of Jesus’ resurrection, forgiveness of sins and the newness of his life.
Prayer
Let us pray: May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ and his precious blood preserve you in a true faith and the blessed assurance of his eternal life! Amen.