“No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it(Deut. 30:14).”
Sometimes we claim we cannot obey because we do not know God’s will. We make excuses, saying His word is in the high heavens or across the vast seas—places we could never reach. But today, the Lord speaks firmly yet tenderly: Truth is not far away. His word is already resting on my lips and engraved in the deepest parts of my heart. In the end, there is no excuse we can offer before God.
We try to blame our lack of obedience or our tendency to love the world more than God on our circumstances or environment. However, the root cause lies within ‘me.’ Failing to act upon the word that is already near is not a lack of ability, but a sign that the love within me has grown cold.
Obedience is never merely a product of willpower or effort. It is a ‘response of love,’ depending entirely on how much I love God. When you love someone deeply, you become attuned to their faintest whisper, and doing what pleases them becomes your first priority. It is love that makes us listen to His voice, and it is love that makes following His path a natural joy.
Today, I hope to deeply feel the love of God that has already arrived in the middle of my life. Rather than feeling the pressure to obey, I seek to understand the heart of the One who loved me first. As I mumble the words of the Lord staying on my lips and cherish the Lord staying in the center of my heart, I resolve to love Him more deeply. When the love within me burns brightly, my steps will move toward a life of obedience—not as a forced walk, but as a journey overflowing with joy.