WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
MARCH 23, 2025
TOPIC: DO WHAT GOD REQUIRES OF YOU
BY T. O. BANSO
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13 New King James Version).
In a father-son relationship among human beings, the son must also know what His father expects of him so that he can do what pleases him. God also has expectations from His children. He requires some things of us to do. We must not relate with God ignorantly claiming to serve Him but doing what He does not expect of us.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 says, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (New King James Version).
This scripture tells us what God requires of His children. We can break it down to these: (1) Fear God (2) Walk in all His ways (3) Love Him (4) Serve God with all your heart, and soul (5) Keep His commandments and statutes.
This scripture is indeed in the Old Testament, and we are no longer under the law, but these requirements cannot be described as completely irrelevant in the New Testament. Although we are under grace, not the law, we are not excused from obeying the Word of God. Neither are we permitted not to fear the Lord i.e. reverence Him, or walk in His way, love Him, and serve Him with all our heart and soul.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (New King James Version). Mark 12:29-31 records a similar thing. Jesus referred to the Old Testament commandments, which are still valid today: loving God and loving fellow human beings.
You can see that Deuteronomy 10:12-13 mentioned loving the Lord and serving Him with all your heart and soul. God still requires this from His children today. Do you fear the Lord? Do you reverence or esteem Him? Do you walk in His ways? Do you love the Lord and serve Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do you obey His Word?
One can do everything he knows to do but fail to do what God requires. This can be compared to a student writing unnecessary answers in an examination. The student may be impressed with his answers, but he is not the one who will mark his script. A wise student will answer questions based on what the examiner requires of him.
Saul was guilty of unnecessary sacrifice. God required obedience, but he promoted sacrifice above obedience. He was rejected because of this. The Prophet Samuel told him, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22 New King James Version). Many people still do that today. They give God what they want; they don’t give Him what He requires of them.
Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, o man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (New King James Version). Three additional things are mentioned here: do justly (justice or what is right), love mercy (kindness or compassion), and walk humbly with God (live in humble fellowship with God).
Some people neglect these things and prefer doing other things. They don’t act with justice. They don’t show mercy or are not compassionate. And they don’t maintain constant fellowship with God in humility, “setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness” as the Amplified Bible says at the end of Micah 6:8. Therefore, they do not please God.
Make God’s priorities your priorities. Do what God requires of you, not what tickles your fancy. In Psalm 50, God rejected the animals His people brought to Him as sacrifices. He said, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:12-15 New King James Version). Fulfil God’s requirements; don’t do only what appeals to you. Genesis 4:4-5 says the LORD respected Abel and his offering but did not respect Cain and his offering.
In Matthew 12:1, the disciples of Jesus plucked heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath and the Pharisees told Him what they did was unlawful on the Sabbath. In answer, Jesus said, among other things, “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord [a]even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:7-8 New King James Version). The Pharisees were being legalistic when God required mercy.
People can engage in different religious rites and never do what God requires. Being religious is not the same thing as being godly. When God requires mercy, religious people could be pursuing stoning to death someone they had caught in adultery as the Scribes and Pharisees did in the story recorded in John 8:2-11. Yet, their hands were not clean. Jesus told them that anyone who was without sin among them should throw a stone at the woman first. He exposed their hypocrisy. The woman’s accusers left one after the other, and Jesus told her to go and sin no more.
Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23 New King James Version). In other words, justice, mercy, and faith were more important than tithing. But the scribes and Pharisees neglected them. They misplaced their priorities. God’s priorities were not their priorities.
Isaiah 1:17 says, “Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow” (New King James Version). God requires these things of His children. But many neglect them and occupy themselves with other things that are not important to God.
See what God says in Isaiah 58:6-7: “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?” (New King James Version). God rejected their fasting because while they fasted, they oppressed their workers and fought and quarrelled.
However, the Lord said if they engaged in the fast He had chosen, “Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am’” (Isaiah 58:8-9a New King James Version). Indeed, God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, and His thoughts than man’s thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). Some people neglect doing simple things God requires of them but get busy doing other things he has not asked them to do.
Examine your life. Are you doing what God requires of you? Jesus said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22-23 New King James Version). Note the last statement: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Do what God requires of you. In summary, love God and love fellow human beings. As Jesus said, no other commandment is greater than these two. Obedience is the fruit of love for God. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15 New King James Version).
The number one mark of obedience to God is to give your life to Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. God requires this of you. Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). If you’re not born again, give your life to Jesus now.
The Apostle John said the love for God is that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). Romans 13:10b says love is the fulfilment of the law.
See the conclusion of the whole matter from the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 New King James Version). Do what God requires of you, not what you like.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner, and cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
PRAYER POINTS: I will not do what I like, but what God requires of me. Holy Spirit, help me to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Help me to reverence and esteem Him. Holy Spirit, enable me to love my neighbour as myself. God’s priorities shall be my priorities in Jesus’ name.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
BE OUR FINANCIAL PARTNER
Account Name: Cedar Ministry International
Bank: United Bank for Africa
Account Number: 1027304911 (Naira); 3004481420 (USD)
