Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 25 before reading the devotional below.
We have recently been experimenting with chores in our family. Each of my children wants an allowance, and we’ve agreed to give them one if they finish their assigned chore. My daughter’s chore at the moment is doing the dishes. This is not a complicated task, since we have a dishwasher. But nevertheless, the dishes need to be loaded into the dishwasher and the clean dishes need to be put away. Tonight, as bedtime came, there were piles of dishes all over the kitchen counter. My daughter offered a variety of excuses, though she discovered that from my point of view none of them mattered. She is responsible for the dishes. If she wants to get paid, she needs to figure out how to get them done.
Deuteronomy 25 similarly discusses responsibilities. There is the responsibility of the judge to take responsibility for the punishment he commands (he has to watch it himself, rather than delegating it). There is the responsibility of the brother to keep his brother’s family line alive (because property was passed through the generations from son to son. If there wasn’t a son, the rest of the family in that generation wouldn’t be financially stable). Finally, there is the responsibility that the Amalekites (a nearby nation) had to be hospitable to the Israelites. The Amalekites failed in their responsibilities, and the Israelites were expected to remember that and treat them accordingly (this may be the first ever record of God teaching healthy boundaries).
Frequently our anxieties and fears come from confusion about expectations. What is expected of us? What are we responsible for? The target always seems to be moving or shifting or changing. With God it never changes. God has given us clear, stated responsibilities. They are in the Bible. We must take the time to understand them and practice them, but we never have to wonder if they’ll change. God values clarity. He promises consistency. That, above all else, makes him safe.