Deuteronomy 17:1-20


The purity of His people is a top priority for God.  He wants us all to cooperate together as we strive to follow God.  The responsibility for purity goes all the way from the common citizen to the spiritual as well as political leaders.  We must all be careful to cultivate a godly walk in our own lives, but we are also called to make sure that others are walking according to God’s Word as well.  God’s plan is to see all of His children cooperating together to promote purity in their own lives as well as the lives of others.  If we are going to be successful in following this plan these are three vial characteristics that we must cultivate in our lives.

COURAGEOUS DISCIPLINE: We must not only look out for our own obedience, but God calls us to be zealous for the obedience of others. When we see or hear of a person who has abandoned the worship of God and disobeyed the will of God; we must not just stand by and let this happen.  God calls us to have the courage to get involved and discipline the person so that he or she might repent and be restored.  The Law of Moses required that the worship of idols was to be punished by death on the word of two or three witnesses.  We must recognize the seriousness of sin and we must muster the courage to get involved when we see others who are living in sin.  Discipline is never an easy thing to do but it is vital to the health of the body of Christ for us to practice it for the glory of God.

CONSISTENT DISCERNMENT: There are times when we may have a hard time deciding what the best path to take is or determining what the Word of God requires us to do in a specific situation.  Moses made it clear that the children of Israel were to take such matters to the spiritual leaders of the nation.  God has established godly men as our leaders in order to help us know and obey the Word of God.  We must never believe that we are alone in our walk with God or become too proud to ask for help.  The gift of discernment is vital to the spiritual health of God’s people and God is faithful to grant that gift to many godly men.  Spiritual leaders must constantly seek God’s Word and be sensitive to God’s Spirit so that they might discern the truth.  We must trust the leaders God has established over us and be submissive to them.

CONSECRATED DILIGENCE: One key to the well being and growth of any nation or group of people is leadership.  God have very clear instructions to the future kings of Israel.  They were not to become proud and act like the kings of the other nations but they were to consecrate themselves and diligently seek to know and follow God’s will.  They were not to have multiple wives as a symbol of status or in an effort to make an alliance with a certain nation.  They were not to multiply huge numbers of horses so that they could boast of their great power.  They were to protect their hearts from pride and seek God with all their heart.  Kings were required to write out a copy of the Law and then read it regularly.  As leaders we must be students of God’s Word and humbly serve the Lord without taking advantage of the people or seeking status because of our positions.  Leaders must seek to be consecrated to the Lord and be diligent to practice humility before both God and man.

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