A life well lived

Key verses
Romans 16:25-27 - "Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen."

 Deuteronomy
What a guy!  Moses had a super productive life, and to top it off, he died well.  His strength wasn't gone, and his eyes were still good.  He just walked into the mountains and died.  He was so well respected and the Israelites grieved his going for a while, and no one after him compared to his godliness.
I've been reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey lately, and one of the habits is to begin with the end in mind.  Ultimately, we should have in mind what kind of legacy we want to leave behind when we die, and what we want people to think of us when we're gone.  And then, we take that idea or legacy, and work toward achieving it.  I want to be respected, and be considered by God as a good and faithful servant, such as Moses.  Think about what you want to achieve, consider whether it's worthwhile, and work toward it!

Authorities are God's servants

Key verse
Deuteronomy 25:10 - That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled. (I put this verse up mostly because I found it amusing.  To check out the context, read Deuteronomy 25:5-10.)

Romans
Read Romans 13:6-7.  Actually, I'll post it here so that you can easily refer to it: "This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."
I think almost everyone realizes the necessity of paying taxes, even if they don't enjoy it.  As I read these verses, I thought, of course, taxes, I pay those.  But then I read the last part, about paying honour and respect to those in authority.  Taxes are one thing, but honour and respect??  Just look around in the news, and see the advertising of political parties, and it certainly doesn't seem like they deserve honour and respect.  Petty fighting and insults are the way they treat each other; it certainly doesn't seem like they want or deserve our respect.  But the people that God has placed in authority are there to govern us; they have huge responsibilities, even if it doesn't seem like they use them well sometimes.  If we pray for them, show them respect, and honour them, perhaps they'll raise the standard and become the type of people that we would readily respect and honour.

God in the Old Testament

I was listening to Greg Koukl's radio show (via podcast) from this past Sunday, February 13.  In the last hour, he interviewed Paul Copan, who wrote Is God a Moral Monster?  Basically, Copan talks about how God is still righteous, gracious, and loving even though a lot of people misread the Old Testament and think that God is a big bully.  For instance, we read today in Deuteronomy about how God will rid the promised land of foreigners and the Israelites will triumph over their enemies.  The Israelites didn't participate in divine ethnic cleansing, however.  Deuteronomy 7:5 specifically states that the Israelite were to destroy the religious aspects of the other nations.  God was setting Israel up to be an example, a light, for all others; they were going to reflect the Lord's glory, and so they had to destroy the pagan relics.
Another interesting point Copan makes is that the laws Israel had to follow were mainly another way to remind them that God was involved in every aspect of their life, and that in every way, they were to remain set apart from the rest of the world and be different.  For instance, they weren't supposed to mix two different kinds of fabric together, nor were they to plant more than one type of crop in any given area.  They were to keep things pure and set apart, just as they were to remain pure and set apart from the pagans.
These are only a few examples, partially gleaned from today's reading in Deuteronomy, explaining why God is not the maniac some people think he is.  He didn't change from one testament to the other.  He is the same God in both the Old and New covenants.

Read Paul Copan's book to find out more about this issue.