Words of Hope Daily Devotional

Winter

Read: Deuteronomy 11:13-25

Your obedience will give you a long life on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors and their children. (Deut. 11:9 The Message)

By the time Moses presented God’s Ten Commandments to the Israelites, they had journeyed long and far. Parts of their 40-year trek likely felt like an unending winter season, highlighted by their grumbling (Exod. 16:1-3; 17:1-3). God met their basic needs with meat and manna, and water from the rock, not because of their complaints, but so they could realize his provision and power (16:4-12; 17:5-6). Following their worship of the golden calf, the price of disobedience was a strict warning that included a high death toll (32:15-28). Through it all, however, God never abandoned his people (40:38).

Moses modeled faithfulness and perseverance in following God. Much like the shepherd he had been earlier in his life, he continually herded God’s wayward sheep and relied on the Great Shepherd to guide and uphold him.

Living obediently in response to God’s forgiveness and grace for us does not mean immediate gratification, but it has an eternal reward. Obedience is the long game of the Christian life, even through winter seasons. In these seasons, we can become more like Jesus as we rely fully on him. Just like the Israelites, we have the opportunity to trust and obey God or selfishly resist his ways. May we remember that obedience to God in spring, summer, autumn, and winter blesses him, and us, too.

As you pray, ask God to guide your actions and attitude.

Joy Petroelje

Joy Petroelje serves as the Advancement Operations Manager for CURE International, a global nonprofit organization. Aside from work, she enjoys spending time with her family, coffee with friends, reading, and traveling local trails on foot.