When God first brought His people out of Egypt, He made a covenant with them that if He was their God and they walked in His ways, then they would be a special people to Him. In Deuteronomy 26, the next generation of His people were again proclaiming this covenant before entering the land. It was much like a renewal of marriage vows\u2014an informal ceremony done at the request of couples at different times, for different reasons. Sometimes it\u2019s to mark a special occasion, like a 25th or 50th wedding anniversary. Other times it\u2019s after a couple has successfully made it through a difficult time in their married life. It\u2019s frequently done at the closing of a weekend Couple’s Retreat. Whatever the reason, it\u2019s usually a very meaningful occasion for the people doing it. It doesn\u2019t make them any more married than they were before, the spoken vows have no legal power on earth or in heaven, but it does serve a useful purpose.<\/p>\n
The renewal of vows reminds us of something important we have committed to doing. Humanity is notoriously forgetful. It is a rare person who frequently remembers the importance of the commitments they have made to others, especially to those they care deeply about. So setting aside a time to remember our vows becomes a guidepost in life. Here in Deuteronomy 26, the people were remembering that they had committed to follow the LORD. From a New Testament believers\u2019 perspective, we can remember the moment we asked for forgiveness and surrendered to God\u2019s Lordship over our lives. Our re-birthday comes once a year, every year, and it serves to remind us of our vow to God, to follow Him and serve Him as long as we breathe. Today as we read these verses, let\u2019s remember that vow again.<\/p>\n
“LORD, we surrender again, afresh, to You. Forgive our sin; take all of our life, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our heart, in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deuteronomy 26 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And it shall be, when thou\u00a0art\u00a0<\/em>come in unto the land which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God giveth thee\u00a0for<\/em>an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God giveth thee, and shalt put\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God shall choose to place his name there.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, that I am come unto the country which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sware unto our fathers for to give us.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And thou shalt speak and say before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, A Syrian ready to perish\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And when we cried unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of our fathers, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10<\/sup>\u00a0And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O\u00a0LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, and worship before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God:\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And thou shalt rejoice in every good\u00a0thing\u00a0<\/em>which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>among you. 12<\/sup> When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year,\u00a0which is\u00a0<\/em>the year of tithing, and hast given\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Then thou shalt say before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of\u00a0mine\u00a0<\/em>house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten\u00a0them:\u00a0<\/em>14<\/sup>\u00a0I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought\u00a0<\/em>thereof for\u00a0any\u00a0<\/em>unclean\u00a0use\u00a0<\/em>, nor given\u00a0ought<\/em>thereof for the dead:\u00a0but\u00a0<\/em>I have hearkened to the voice of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0my God,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 16<\/sup>\u00a0This day the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Thou hast avouched the\u00a0LORD\u00a0this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORDhath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that\u00a0thou<\/em>shouldest keep all his commandments;\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, as he hath spoken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When God first brought His people out of Egypt, He made a covenant with them that if He was their God and they walked in His ways, then they would be a special people to Him. In Deuteronomy 26, the next generation of His people were again proclaiming this covenant before entering the land. 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