Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 (NRSV)
Read Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 4So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Verse 2You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you. Verse 6You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!" Verse 7For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? Verse 8And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? Verse 9But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children-
Devotion
God's commandments are like a fence carefully placed around a garden or vineyard. Through the gift of law, God gives us a boundary, both to protect the community God has planted and to contain it from getting out of control. Still today, you and the ones you gather with in God's name are a part of that "precious planting" (Isaiah 5), sown and nurtured by God's own loving hand. And God has not left you without instruction, a fence to help you live and flourish and bear good fruit.
But notice also in these verses that the fence God has made is not so high that the neighbors can't see and admire what's going on. "See how near God is to them!" they exclaim. "See how just, wise, and discerning this people is!" You have been joined to a people whose deeper purpose is witness. Remember that as you honor the boundaries God has set for you and your disciple community, you do so ultimately so that others will be drawn to the goodness of the Gardener and desire to be grafted into the Vine.
Prayer
God our gardener, thank you for giving us instruction to help us grow and prosper. Strengthen us to follow your teaching so that those around us might recognize that you are near. Amen.