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your God who is among you

Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear Yahveh your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.

Deuteronomy 6:14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,

Deuteronomy 6:15 because Yahveh your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, Yahveh your God will become angry with you and exterminate you from the face of the land.

your God who is among you

Notice the choice the Israelites had to make. They could follow the gods of the people around them, or they could fear their God who was among them. Those pagan gods are not to be feared if they choose to fear God instead. But if they choose to follow those pagan idols, they will suffer the fate of the idol worshipers whom they would dispossess.

If we realize God’s greatness, we will fear him and love him at the same time. Even our Savior commands us to fear God.¹ But he also commands us to love God.²

We can do this more easily by remembering that God is our Father in the sky. Even though he has terrifying power, he uses that power to bless his children.

Thank you Lord for being the sky Father among us.