November 16 | Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 3–4; Hebrews 11:20–40

Keep Your Guard Up

Be careful, and watch yourselves closely. Deuteronomy 4:9

READ Deuteronomy 4:1–9

A man and several friends went through a ski resort gate posted with avalanche warning signs and started snowboarding. On the second trip down, someone shouted, “Avalanche!” But the man couldn’t escape and perished in the cascading snow. Some criticised him, calling him a novice. But he wasn’t; he was an “avalanche-certified backcountry guide.” One researcher said that skiers and snowboarders with the most avalanche training are more likely to give in to faulty reasoning. “[The snowboarder] died because he was lulled into letting his guard down.”

As Israel prepared to go into the promised land, God wanted His people to keep their guard up—to be careful and alert. So He commanded them to obey all His “decrees and laws” (Deuteronomy 4:1–2) and remember His past judgement on those who disobeyed (vv. 3–4). They needed to “be careful” to examine themselves and keep watch over their inner lives (v. 9). This would help them keep their guard up against spiritual dangers from without and spiritual apathy from within.

It's easy for us to let our guard down and fall into apathy and self-deception. But God can give us strength to avoid falling in life and forgiveness by His grace when we do. By following Him and resting in His wisdom and provision, we can keep our guard up and make good decisions!

By Marvin Williams

When do you tend to let your spiritual guard down? What will you do to follow God’s wisdom and remain alert to dangers to your faith?

Dear God, please help me to remain alert and follow You in loving obedience.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

The book of Deuteronomy (which means “second law”) is the final book of the Pentateuch—the five books of Moses. In Judaism, these books are referred to as Torah (literally “instruction, law”). In Deuteronomy, Moses repeated the law given to Israel at Sinai. Why the repetition? The generation that had first received (and agreed to) the law at Mount Sinai had died in the wilderness during their forty years of wandering. Now, the people were preparing to enter the promised land, and Moses repeated the law for this new generation so they’d accept it for themselves before they received the land.