DEVOTION: What Does God Require of Me? ~ Shirley Corder

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NIV)

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

What does God ask of you? Or as the King James version puts it, What does He require of you? Even as Moses asked this of the people of Israel nearly 4,000 years ago, so the questions still comes to us today.

This is surely one of the most important question any of us can ever be asked—and yet how often have we sat down and thought about the answer.

If you were to go to the shopping mall on Saturday morning, and stop shoppers as they rushed around, with the question, “What does God require of you?” you would probably be regarded as a religious freak, out of your mind, and in most cases you would find yourself shoved to one side. But if any were polite enough to give you time and try to answer your question, what would they say? “To obey the laws of the land”? “To be a good father/mother/student”? “To avoid drugs and not to drink and drive”?

What if you were to do a survey of people coming to church next Sunday morning? “What does God require of you?” Would they reply, “To attend church regularly”? Or “To obey the commandments”?

Yet God in His Word has given us the answer. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus tells us the first and greatest commandment is to "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'” In other words, put God first. Love Him more than any other person. Think about Him more than you do about anything else.

As writers, what does God require of us? What sort of books or articles does He require us to write? Does our writing put God first? Do our words encourage our readers to love the Lord with all their hearts, all their souls, all their minds? What a responsibility is ours!

As readers, what does God require of us? What does He want us to read? What does He require us to fill our minds with? And what does He want us to do with what we have read?

So I ask you today, What does God require of you - today? How does God want you to spend your time this week? This year?

Share with us one thing you can do that will help you put God first.

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on the often unexpected things God used to help her through the rough times in the cancer valley. It is available globally in print or online, in print and e-versions. Please visit Shirley through ShirleyCorder.com, where she encourages writers, RiseAndSoar.com, where she encourages those in the cancer valley, on Twitter or on FaceBook. Sign up for her writers' newsletter.