When you go over

Moses in Deuteronomy 12 gave charge to the Israelites laws and statutes relating to the worship of God. When I read Deut 12:8-12, it impressed on me as a message to us as Christians, awaiting the day when we will be in heaven with God.

So while we are here, 8 "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9 for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the LORD. 12 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you."

You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today
Looking into v.8, I do wonder why the change of personal pronoun: You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today. And what were they doing?

everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes
This I suppose hold true at whatever age we are in, everyone doing whatever they feel is right. The latest news about the courts in NJ amending laws to allow gay marriage is a good example.

But when you go over ... he gives you rest from all your enemies around
We get final rest and protection from God, from problems, from persecution, even from our ownself.

to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you
The place where God is will be full of worship: the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created. (Rev 4:10-11)

And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters
Oh! How we long to be finally in His presence, rejoicing, all of us. But while we wait for that Last Day, we strive hard to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).

Maeghan
Picture by Julia Freeman-Woolpert