Category: Deuteronomy’

An Old Testament Devotion for the Anxious Covenant Child’s Heart

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

As we grow up, we all have to make decisions about our lives. What car should I buy? Which person should I marry? Should I try to find a new job? Should I move to a new city?

Now, we know that God’s Word tells us all we need to know to be obedient servants to God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says so.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The Bible, however, does not tell us which job we should take or what kind of house to buy. But oh, how we often wish it would! How are we to know what God wants us to do if He won’t tell us?

When you come to these kinds of decisions, you might have a well-meaning friend who will come to you and say, “I was praying for you, and I have a word from the Lord for you. And He told me that you should…” and then they tell you.

Now, this might be very confusing. After all, you weren’t expecting God to send you word through a friend. And what if that friend is wrong?

But what if they’re right? you might worry. What if I ignore them? Am I ignoring the word of God?

Well, the first question we need to ask ourselves when we wish to know what God wants us to do is to ask whether we’re obeying God in this decision. After all, God has said in the Bible that His will is for us to obey Him. So if there’s an option in our choices that’s disobedient to God’s law, we know not to make that choice.

For example, if your friend wants you to hang out at the store with her, but you also know this friend likes to steal from stores, you already know it’s not a wise decision to hang out with her because God forbids stealing in the Bible. This makes your decision easy. You should say no.

But that’s an easy example. What about examples where both options seem obedient to God? What about the hard choices? For example, what if your parents give you the choice of playing basketball or soccer? Is it possible to be a faithful Christian playing both of those games? The answer is yes. Neither game requires you to sin to play it. So how do you know which one is God’s will for you to choose?

This is where we look back at our verse.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

See that? God has revealed that His will is for us to follow the words of His law–He wants us to be obedient. But He also reveals that He has a secret will. And that secret will is…

Secret. It’s God’s, and God’s alone. God’s secret will.

Which means we don’t need to worry about it.

Does God know what He has planned for us in our lives? Absolutely. We learn that in Jeremiah 29:11.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God knew the plans He had for the Israelites in the Old Testament, and He knows the plans He has for us (because Christians are a part of God’s family.) But God does not always tell us what His plan for our lives is. He wants us to have faith that He is powerful and loving, and that He is always with us, guiding and guarding us even when we can’t see what He’s doing.

We don’t need to worry when someone tells us they have a “word from the Lord.” As well-meaning as these people might be, they don’t have God’s secret will to give you because God’s secret will is secret, and you don’t need to worry about it. Instead, trust that if you make a godly choice, doing your best to obey Scripture, He will make your paths straight, as we learn in Proverbs 3:5-6.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

So when you have a choice to make, take a deep breath, make the best choice you can, and trust the Lord using the “revealed will” of God. For God’s “revealed will” is what He has told us in the Bible. It’s that simple! What God wants us to know about His plans, He has told us in Scripture. All other knowledge is His and His alone. And even when you can’t understand what’s going on, trust the Bible that you are loved.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the “secret will” of God?

2. Where should we go to learn what God wants us to know about His plans?

3. How can we make godly choices when we’re not sure what to do?

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An Old Testament Devotion for the Anxious Covenant Child’s Heart

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

In this verse, God is talking to the Israelites, and He’s reminding them that He chose to love them. Not because they were stronger or bigger than other groups of people. But because… well, simply because He wanted to.

Have you ever wondered why God loves you? Out of all the people on earth, why did God pick you and me?

I think all Christians ask this question at some point in their lives. We might look at our neighbor who hates God and says bad things about Him and wonder why God chose to love us rather than that neighbor—why He changed our hearts instead of our neighbor’s heart.

Is it because we’re prettier or smarter or sweeter or taller or better dressed or cleaner or more obedient than others? Is it because we deserve God’s love?

Some people look at this question and say, “Well, you see, before the world was created, God looked into the future and saw that I would choose Him. So He chose me back.”

But when we read Scripture, we see that this cannot be true.

First of all, if God did not know something—if He had to learn something because He didn’t know who would choose Him, that means that God was not all-knowing. That would mean He had to learn. And the Bible makes it very clear that God is and always has been all-knowing. If He doesn’t know everything, He isn’t God. But, of course, God knows all things, and He always has. So that doesn’t work.

Ephesians 2:1 says that we were born “dead” in our sin.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…

This doesn’t mean our bodies were born dead. Obviously, if you are reading this, your body is alive. It means our souls are born dead. We can’t choose God on our own because we are dead in our sins. And dead people can’t choose God.

Imagine if a doctor had a medicine that could bring a dead person back to life! Now imagine how silly it would seem for that doctor to stand over the dead person and shout, “Hey, you! I can see you’re dead, but I have medicine that will bring you back to life! Would you like me to give it to you? Would you like to come back to life?”

Well, the doctor could stand there and shout at the dead body all day, but the dead body wouldn’t answer. It can’t answer. It’s dead. And as we said before, dead people can’t choose life.

No, the doctor would have to give the person the medicine before that person could make any choices at all.

In the same way, God must choose us before we choose Him. He says so in many verses:

Romans 9:16 says,

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Ephesians 1:4-5 says,

…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…

Romans 9:10-11 says,

And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—

This thought might seem a bit scary at first. It means that if God didn’t choose me because I was good or made good choices or did all the right things… then I have no control over His love.

Exactly!

But believe it or not, this is good news! It’s the best news because no matter how we stumble in our sin—no matter how many times we fail to love God, His love does not rely on us or what we do or choose. He loves us simply because He wanted to. Isn’t that fantastic? God’s love for His children is not of my doing. That means it doesn’t rest on any other action other than His choice to love me and Christ’s work that He credits to us!

And the same goes for you, my dear child. You cannot earn God’s love, just as I can’t. We’re too sinful. But once God the Holy Spirit brings us to spiritual life out of that spiritual death, then we can love God. As 1 John 4:19 says,

We love because he first loved us.

So go, child. Sleep in God’s peace and love tonight.

Discussion Questions

1. According to this verse, do we choose God first, or does He choose us first?

2. Can we choose God through our own abilities? Or does something else have to happen first?

3. Once we learn of God’s love, what should our response be? What should we do, and why should we do it?

If you would like this devotion and others in your home, you can order it here: