In the past I have had people tell me that they feel more alive and experience God more deeply when they are in the great outdoors, as they seek to experience God in nature, HIS nature. I am OK with that as long as you take your Bible with you and BELONG to a local church. I like the observation that C.S. Lewis made concerning the Word of God! "You find out more about God from the Moral Law than from the universe in general just as you find out more about a man by listening to his conversation than by looking at a house he has built C.S. Lewis."
In Deuteronomy chapter 5 we see Moses restating the 10 Commandments originally stated in Exodus 20. I believe that Richards nails it in reference to "have no other gods besides me" when he said that..."God must be given absolute priority. This commandment is key to all the others. Unless we commit ourselves to God, and to God alone, our hearts will be drawn away from the righteousness the Ten Commandments decree. For ancient Israel “other gods” were often pagan idols. For us “other gods” may be the pursuit of wealth or pleasure. If our commitment to the Lord is complete, keeping the rest of the commandments will follow naturally. You shall not make … an idol. God is Spirit. So cutting any image for use in worship must corrupt our grasp of His nature as Yahweh. God’s “jealousy” this reflects a passionate concern for us to know and worship Him as He truly is. The reference to “punishing the children for the sin of the fathers” reminds us that the consequences of a flawed understanding of God persist for generations. If we know and worship God in His spiritual nature we protect our descendants from the sins, and subsequent punishments, that grow wherever men fail to know and love the Lord. Richards, L. O. (1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.) (64). Wheaton: Victor Books.
In the NT Paul and Peter both warn us to be careful, to be sober minded, Paul commands us in 1 Corinthians 15:34, to "Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame." Peter in 1 Pet 1:13 exhorts us to "prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Moses commands us to be careful over and over...I am sorry for listing so many references, BUT I NEED TO HEAR THEM, I WANT TO GET THIS AT THE CORE OF MY HEART!
Deut 5:32--You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Deut 6:3--Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deut 6:25--And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
Deut 7:11--You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Deut 7:12--“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers.
Deut 8:1--“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.
Deut 11:22--For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him,
Deut 11:32--you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.
Deut 12:1--“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
Deut 12:30--take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’
Deut 15:5--if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today.
Deut 17:10--Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the Lord will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you.
Deut 24:8--“Take care, in a case of leprous disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.
Deut 26:16--“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deut 28:1--“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
Deut 28:13--And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
Deut 31:12--Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,
Deuteronomy 6:25 teaches us that "Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’ When Jesus arrived in history, when God became incarnate there were 613 laws and if memory serves me correctly there were thousands of rules and regulations that Jewish tradition had piled on to the 613 laws found in the OT. If you want to see a list of the 613 laws with their scripture references check out Judaism 101 at http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm
I don't know about you but this is a little discouraging...the thought of trying to keep 613 commandments...wow! Paul, under the influence and direction of the Holy Spirit teaches us in Galatians that "the law was our tutor [guardian] to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith Gal. 3:24." THIS IS HUGE! THIS IS INCREDIBLE AND IT IS REALLY GOOD NEWS! WHY ARE YOU MAKING SUCH A BIG DEAL ABOUT THIS MARK...BECAUSE NOW REALLY THERE IS ONLY ONE COMMANDMENT! HE GAVE IT TO THEM IN DEUTERONOMY WITH ALL THE OTHERS AND JESUS QUOTED IT IN THE GOSPELS!
Deut 6:4-5 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Mark 12:29-30 “This is the most important,” Jesus answered: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, The Lord is One. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Our purpose and our passion it to love God, to seek HIM, to pursue HIM with a white hot passion...to cry out for a heart that longs for HIM and HIM alone, a heart that longs for HIM as HE is, not as I want HIM to be...Jesus commands us to follow...that is our responsibility...to fix our eyes on Jesus and follow, what did HE say in Matt 4:19? “Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for people!” You follow me, Jesus, and HE said "I will make you." All you and I have to concern ourselves with is following hard after Jesus.
Rev 2:4-5--But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love ⌊you had⌋ at first. 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
REMEMBER, REPENT AND GO HARD AFTER JESUS...PURSUE THE LOVER OF YOUR SOUL!