“And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.” (Deuteronomy 12:12)

The book of Deuteronomy contains words that Moses gave to the people of Israel as they were poised to enter the Promised Land.

He paints beautiful pictures of how prosperous life would be in the Promised Land. He also rings alarm bells of the dangers that await them.

He points out the blessings of living in obedience to God’s commands. He also minces no words about the disastrous consequences of disobedience.

The passage from which today’s 12:12 verse is taken is no exception. Would you please take two minutes to read Deuteronomy 12:1-14?

Now do you see what I mean?

If you were to read verse 12 in isolation, all you would see is a group of happy people joining together in a celebration dance.

But before they can cut loose with happiness, they need to take care of some serious business.

The chapter begins with a stern command:

“You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.  You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.” (v. 2, 3)

God calls for a ruthless elimination of every object of worship that could conspire to turn their hearts away from Him.

He emphasizes this exclusive attention to Him with a demand:

“Then, to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices,  your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the  Lord.” (v. 11)

He insists that they worship only at the location designated for that express purpose and nowhere else.

Can you see how God establishes WORSHIP as the highest priority for His people when they are in the Promised Land and enjoy rest from all their enemies?

Has anything changed for us today?

Granted we do not have to go to one particular central shrine as the people of Israel did. Jesus made that very clear in his conversation with the Samaritan woman, didn’t he?

“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” (John 4:21, 23)

Regardless, as we enter Day 2 of the 12:12:12 Fast, I believe that we too are called to ensure that we establish WORSHIP as the highest priority in our lives.

This means that we too must rid ourselves of everything that will compete for our attention and prevent us from making our Father the ONLY focus of our worship.

Would you ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs to be on your chopping block?

It calls us to gather with others who are also worshipers of the One True God, followers of Jesus, in a place where we can worship in spirit and in truth.

Are you doing this faithfully?

God asks that we come with our tithes, our sacrifices and our finest offerings.

Would these words describe what you bring to the altar?

When we do all three, then the joyous scene of celebration portrayed in Deuteronomy 12:12 will become reality now, as it was then, in our “Promised Land” as well. Amen?