Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Matthew 5:43-48
‘The Lord your God commands you today to observe these laws and customs; you must keep them with all your heart and all your soul.‘
The Book of Deuteronomy is a favourite of mine. Commentators have drawn my attention to the number of times the ‘heart’ is mentioned. What Deuteronomy offers is a way of the heart. Every thought, every action is to be directed towards God. The keeping of God’s commandments is something which frees us and expands our hearts.
Similar themes are echoed in Ps 118 today. Here we are invited to do God’s will and to seek him with all our hearts. The whole Psalm is a long meditation on the disposition of those who seek God alone.
If we want to keep God’s commands we need space in our hearts. Lent offers the chance to do this.
How can you make space in your heart this Lent?