SYNOPSIS: If you weary of the constant call to holiness, even in the minutiae of your life, never forget the fruit of total obedience to God’s call: “so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do.” (Deut. 23:20) If that’s the outcome of allowing God to rule over every single detail of you, then his constant, micromanaging oversight is not just a small price to pay, it’s the best investment you’ll ever make.

Going Deep // Focus: Deuteronomy 23:20

…So that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

Miscellaneous. That is the section heading one of the Bible translations gives the multi-faceted, or you might even say, disconnected rules and regulations God’s gives to Israel for daily living. Some of the rules are earthy, and even awkward to talk about—I’ll let you read them for yourself. Some of them seem a bit onerous and unfair. Some of them are clearly understandable in light of God’s holiness and how he wants us to worship him. And some of them are quite practical and obviously make a lot of sense.

As you read the list, you get the feeling that God is micromanaging his people. And as you read in hindsight the history of the Israelites, that is exactly what they needed. They needed someone to tell them what to do, where to go, and how to live.

So do we! However, we resist that kind of intrusion into our lives, even by God. We don’t want a religion that restricts our freedom or a church that give us lists of do’s and don’t’s to follow or a preacher who dictates our behavior. We want our freedom to choose.

In reality, God has allowed us that very thing, our freedom. As New Testament believers, we are free from the restrictive minutiae of the Mosaic law. It didn’t work anyway. Controlling people’s behaviors in the Old Testament didn’t change their hearts. That is the definite assessment of the New Testament. And that is precisely why Jesus came to pay the price for our failure to live up to the requirements of the law. That is why the Holy Spirit was sent to live within us, continually empowering us in heart and mind to live in holiness unto the Lord. We just couldn’t do it without his daily, moment-by-moment help.

That is why we need a micromanaging God. At least I do—and I have a feeling you do too! We need that constant empowerment of God’s Spirit. We need his daily enablement to do the right thing. And we need his continual infilling to help us want to love God wholehearted and live in holiness. We even need the Holy Spirit to help us want to want to love the Lord and live righteously. Of course, we have to do our part to love God and live righteously. Like the Israelites, doing has to accompany being. Since we are the children of God, we now must act like it! But still, we need a God to micromanage our lives. That is what Brother Lawrence, the famous monk best known for “Practicing the Presence of God,” was seeking when he prayed,

O my God, since thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech thee to grant me the grace to continue in thy presence; and to this end do thou prosper me with thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections.

And if you ever get tired of that, if you are ever wearied by the constant call to holiness, even in the minutiae of life, never forget the fruit of total obedience: so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land.

If that is the outcome of allowing God to rule over the details of me, then constant oversight is a small price to pay.