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Life's Questions and Christian Belief

Bible verse reflections

Deuteronomy 4:9 – Diligently keep yourself

August 3, 2026
Verse:
Deuteronomy 4:9
Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren
Question:

How do you respond to this verse?

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Reflection:

While the directions given by Moses relate to the Old Covenant, and focussed on keeping the Law, this guidance remains relevant for us.
Moses commanded them listen to the statutes and the judgments that they may live and go in and possess the land.
We need to listen to all that Jesus explained in His call to faith under the new covenant, that we may receive real life and possess the blessings of his precious gift of forgiveness and an eternal home in God’s presence.

John 6: 29 reads, ‘Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”’ We are called to apply that faith in a transformed life, and John warned us in 3 John 1:11 that “He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”

Moses warned them about being true to God’s word, saying in 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it”, and that warning was repeated by Jesus in Revelation 22:18-19. So, we must be wary to avoid adding our own theories to the gospel, and to avoid deleting parts we don’t like, we are called to treasure all that God has revealed to us in his word.

Just as their eyes had seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor when he destroyed the men who followed Baal, so we have the historical records of the huge number of people who died in the 20th century due to following the various worldly isms that become our idols when people turn away from God, which we see being repeated in this century. And we can also see that in the lives of people about us.
The Christian heritage of western society brought great blessings and wisdom that amazed and became the envy of all people, but as western society is no longer careful to observe God’s call to faith, it has become subject to ridicule and attack from within and without.

There is so much pressure to compromise our faith, we need to follow this warning to take heed and diligently keep ourselves in God’s path.

And there is an added clause here about teaching our children and grandchildren. In my early years of Sunday School I had a wonderful teacher who gave us bible truths even at a pre-school age. I could never remember the set bible verses each week, but those children who did were highly praised. But in recent years in other churches I have heard complaints that children were tired of just colouring in things, they wanted something more substantial.

We are called to be diligent about our faith and how we apply that to our daily lives, and to avoid the temptations to adopt the false assumptions and myths that bombard us through our electronic media. We need to set time aside for prayer, bible reading, and worship, to allow His Spirit to guide us and keep our hearts faithful and following the path He has prepared for us.

Praise God for keeping us close to Him.

All bible verses used in this website are from the New King James version.

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