What Does The Lord Require Of Thee?

What does the Lord require of thee?  God is the potter, and we are merely the clay.  God is infinite, and we are merely finite.   God is perfect in all His ways, and we are a sinful, broken people.  With this in mind, the question that is asked, “What does the Lord require” of us, or “What does the Lord ask” of us?  This is addressed in our reading today, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?” (Deuteronomy 10:12).  He then goes on to instruct them to keep the Lord’s command for their own good (v.13).  We should not view these instructions as ways to earn salvation.  The parallel to salvation is that God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt by grace.  The Israelites cried out to God.  He heard their plea.  God redeemed them from the hand of Pharoh.  Egypt is a type of sin and God delivering Israel from there a type of salvation.  These commands do not come as a condition of delivery.  That has already taken place.  These commands come AFTER their delivery, or salvation.  God has already done so much for us; He has done for us what we could not do.  Our hearts desire should be towards the Lord.  So, in light of all that God has done for us, what can we do?  God wants us to simply walk in His ways, which is indicative of our love for Him.  Now, that is not too much to ask AND we later learn, that doing this is also for our own good.  God loves us and will not harm us.  Loving and trusting the Lord is to walk in His ways.