July 6 -- "Lay it to Your Heart"

 Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 4:25-49

"Lay it to Your Heart"

As Moses nears the end of his ministry, he pauses to give the Israelites an extremely important exhortation: take what you’ve learned about the LORD from me and “lay it to your heart.”  He tells them to take it to heart that God is in Heaven above; God is on Earth below; and He’s the only God there is.  He has no rival.  He has no equal.  Now and forever, God You reign.

Moses realizes he won’t be around much longer.  The people won’t be able to rely on him for their faith.  He won’t be the one to take their prayers to God.  It is now imperative that they take the things he has taught them and make sure the truth settles deep within each of their hearts.

Moses urges the Jews to take the truths they have been taught and turn them into convictions.  He tells them not to just “know” the truth about God, nor even to simply "believe" the truth, but to “lay it to your heart.” This phrase denotes the idea of holding a deeply held conviction deep in their very soul. He insists that God’s people must submerge their hearts so deeply into God’s truth such that it transforms them at the very core of their being. 

He is not talking about simply accepting a certain fact, or facts, about the LORD.  He is talking about a passionate conviction so deeply held that it becomes the very essence of who they are.  Know His truth.  Lay it in your heart.  Bury it so deeply that it merges with your spirit and permeates who you are. 

There comes a time in all of our lives, when we can no longer depend on the faith and convictions of others.  We must “know” the LORD for ourselves and take His truths and lay them so deeply into our hearts that they become our unbending convictions.  And, like Moses, I would exhort you today to know this well, and take it to heart right now: God is in Heaven above; God is on Earth below: He’s the only God there is.  

The Apostle Paul urges the same in Colossians 3:16, where he says to “Let the word of Christ have its home within you dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being.” [AMP]