Deuteronomy 11: 18 and some other verses - by Don Neuendorf
"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds..."
My wife is really good at memorizing things. A Bach sonata, a 15 verse hymn, a book of the Bible, she likes to take a piece at a time and commit lots of things to memory. And the result is evident. When we face any trouble or need she is often ready with "salty" words - words of comfort and wisdom that she has committed to memory.
But is that all these verses are about?...
We've often used these verses to promote our practice of memory work that is so common in our Lutheran schools. And with good reason. But there is more going on here than just memorization. Moses writes, "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse - the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord yoru God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey... and turn from the woay that I command you today by following other gods..."
Remember the last reading, but serving two masters? There are consequences to our choices. God offers us not just law, but Gospel, grace, the gift of a relationship with himself. If we respond as his Spirit works this faith in us then we will fix his words in our hearts and minds. We will come to see our life and world through the lens of his word.
But if we reject him when he calls, then the result is cursing. That is, we have cursed ourselves. We will have chosen the curse for ourselves.
What, after all, is a curse? It is ultimately a separation from God. That's what we're wishing for someone when we curse them, saying, "God damn you."
No one would choose that for themselves, surely? And yet, when faced with blessing and curse - when faced with the choice of embracing our heavenly Father and fixing our minds on his word or turning away from him toward the world, we often choose the world. Not totally. Not to the entire exclusion of God. But yet day after day and bit by bit we make those choices.
It is grace - a pure and undeserved gift - that our Father continues to set his blessing before us. It's in his word. In his promise. It is free and unlimited and always waiting.