You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Deuteronomy 16:19 Twenty-five years ago, back in residency, drug company sales representatives were a regular fixture in our clinic. They provided lunch,…
Read more
You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Deuteronomy 15:10 When I see someone who needs my time, effort, or financial assistance, it’s not natural…
Read more
You may eat all clean birds. But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture . . . the hoopoe and the bat. Deuteronomy 14:11-18 In reading through the Old Testament, one encounters many rules that we don’t follow today. This is illustrated in today’s passage, in which Moses…
Read more
If your brother . . . entices you secretly, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” . . . you shall not yield to him or listen to him . . . But you shall kill him. Deuteronomy 13:6-9 The jumping cholla cactus is so named because of the ease with which it clings…
Read more
You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes . . . Deuteronomy 12:8 I remember sitting in my counselor’s office while in treatment, arguing with her about my discharge date. I’d been there 14 days, which seemed long enough. I was…
Read more
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God . . . Deuteronomy 11:26-28 No one wants to live this…
Read more
And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you. Deuteronomy 9:16 In my addiction, I caused my wife tremendous misery and pain. It took some time, but she eventually forgave…
Read more
Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, “It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,” . . . Deuteronomy 9:4 Working in jail, with those whose lives are in a state of perpetual disaster, it’s tempting…
Read more
Beware lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.” You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power . . . Deuteronomy 8:17-18 If you ask what happened to anyone who’s been addicted, had a significant amount of…
Read more
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. Deuteronomy 8:5 I wrote yesterday about how God has used my trials to shape me. Though it was miserable at the time, I can now look back on my addiction and see how God used it to…
Read more
RSS - Posts
Recent Comments