Deuteronomy was written as a reminder to Israel — the people of God — that they had been slaves in Egypt, but God had brought them out so that they could be brought into the land promised to their forefather Abraham. It was into a land where there were houses and cities they did not build and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees they did not plant and a land that flowed with milk and honey. So, it is with us as believers, God has called us and brought us out of our slavery to sin into the freedom of our salvation and the fellowship of other believers on our pilgrimage to the kingdom of God.

As I write this, we have just observed Veteran’s Day, which is a time to remember and honor the sacrifices of those who served in the military to preserve the freedoms we enjoy. Later this week, we will be gathering with families and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was traditional in our home to spend some time on Thanksgiving Day as we sat around our table to remember and talk about the blessings that the Lord had given us and we would always be amazed at how much we had for which to be thankful. It is always good to do what the old hymn encourages us to do — “count your many blessings and name them one by one.”

High on the list of things for which we were thankful was our salvation — remembering the day that the Lord graciously brought us out of the darkness of our sin and into the light, joy and peace of our salvation. It is our confident hope that one day soon Jesus will come again to take us out of this sinful world and bring us at last into his eternal kingdom. What a day that will be!

May our hope of soon being brought into his eternal kingdom inspire us to keep pressing on until the day of our Lord’s return.

Rev. Bill Monroe

Extended Scripture: Deuteronomy 5–6 (ESV)