Deuteronomy 4:39
So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
On the cusp of entering into a new land–and a new life–Moses asks the people to acknowledge the one who has made this new day possible for them.
It’s as though they’ve reached the conclusion of their first book (though some sequels will surely follow) and Moses is reminding them that now it’s time to write their Acknowledgments Page.
After all, Moses points out, God has acted uniquely in their lives:
Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? …. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire. And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power…So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God…
It is God who has loved them into being and called them into relationship with God and with all creation. It is God who has formed them and shaped them. It is God who daily adds to their narrative with acts of justice and mercy. Now, with one book drawing to a close and another about to begin, it’s time for the people to acknowledge that the God of heaven and earth is the true author of their story.
What would it look like for us to pause, at the start of this new day, and acknowledge God? What would it look like for us to take to heart God’s work in our lives? It is God who has formed us and shapes us still. It is God who daily adds to our narrative with acts of justice and mercy. It is God–the true author of our lives–who surprises this weary world with the dramatic plot twist of a baby born in Bethlehem, a baby who is God with us.
The God of heaven and earth changes the script, sets aside terrifying displays of power, and comes in vulnerability and weakness to change this world’s story forever, to name us Beloved, to daily offer us new air to breathe and new dreams to dream.
Come, Jesus, come. We acknowledge your presence with us this day as the author of our lives and the one who makes all things new. Amen.
Today’s accompanying song is Steady On by Storyhill.