Effortlessness

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don’t know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it “really” means.. Let’s see where this takes us!

First, thanks for your patience. Other happenings took me away from the Daily Bible Chapter. In any case, we’ll be resuming where we left off a month ago.

I’m reading Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Deuteronomy 6

We see a big difference between the YLT and NRSV in Deuteronomy 6:4.

YLT: Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God [is] one Jehovah;

NRSV: Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

The YLT seems to suggest that there is only one LORD (translated as Jehovah.) The NRSV suggests that the LORD is the only God for Israel.

In any case, verse 5 is nearly identical in meaning: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Heart, soul, and might are in both versions.)

This portion is significant:

“10 “When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you — a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, 11 houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant — and when you have eaten your fill, 12 take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 The Lord your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. “

To love the LORD means things work out effortlessly. Although the LORD was meticulous in some of the procedures for sacrifices and in building the tabernacle, the Israelites did little to determine the major events in their lives. They just followed. They didn’t work for the manna in the desert, and they’ll inherit what others have built in the Promised Land.

It’s as if we don’t have to worry about anything or feel we “have” to do something in order to prosper.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)