Day 80/365- Deuteronomy 29:29

"Mysteries or Obedience?"

"The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions. (Deuteronomy 29:29 NLT)

Deuteronomy 29:29 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It reveals to his people what they must focus their lives on. God's final instructions to his people through Moses before they enter the promised land is plain & right before them. God has many mysteries but they are not accountable for them. They are only accountable for what the Lord has instructed them. They are not to get bogged down in the mysteries but rather just obey what has been made clear to them.

If ever there was a truth for this generation of believers it is this. We often times get so bogged down in the mysteries of God that we are not meant to fully understand (that is what a mystery is) that we forget to do what is plain. We are so worried about God's will for our lives as if it is a mysterious series of decisions to go here or not, to do this or not. When, in reality, if we would but do the clear things that Scripture teaches us, we would find ourselves in the will of God more than ever!

We often times focus on theological mysteries that we will not know the fullness of until eternity at the expense of clear teachings of Scripture. We argue about the sovereignty of God & the free will choice of man. We struggle with the question, "Is God sovereign or man responsible?" We talk about the deep mysteries of God as if they can be clearly known when sometimes we just have to say, "God is sovereign AND man is responsible. How these two exist in the same world I'm not sure." It's a mystery. What God has clearly revealed regarding this however, is that we are to be actively involved in brining the nations to Jesus. We are to give ourselves to the work of an evangelist, across the street & around the world.

Jesus is fully God & fully man. How can this be? We don't know, it is a mystery. What we can know is that he is fully God & fully man & has taken the wrath of God for us so that sinners can be saved.

This could go on & on. My point is, we often neglect such clear Biblical teaching while being fixated on mysteries. The mysteries are God's. I'm not saying we shouldn't study or try to understand all we can. We should. But we must do what God has clearly commanded us in his word. His instruction is clear, our obedience should be as well!