What if there were something we could do that would guarantee us God’s help, no matter the circumstances? The Bible says there is something we can do, something that will guarantee us Yehovahs help, no matter the circumstances.
In Deut 6:3-6, we read, “Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as Yehovah, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: Yehovah is our God, Yehovah is one. Love Yehovah, your God with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your mind.”
Here, in Deut 6:3-6 and Joshua 1:8 Yehovah says there is something we can do, which will guarantee us God’s help. But that something requires us to concentrate and think of 613 commandments. How is that possible in our modern-day and age? Just operating heavy machinery, or driving a car, requires us to concentrate on what we are doing. If we were to focus on 613 commandments, while we drove a car, we would be so distracted it could cause us and others around us severe injury and perhaps death.
So how then are we to obey Deut 6 and Joshua 1:8 and write the Torah on our minds so it can go well with us?
The Bible gives us the answer to this question.
In Matt 12:29, Yeshua says, the most important of all those commandments is Deut 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel: Yehovah is our God, Yehovah is one. Love Yehovah, your God with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deut 6:6 it says, these commandments I give to you today are to be on your mind. When it says “these commandments,” it refers to Deut 6:4-5 and the rest of the Torah. So what the Bible is trying to tell us in Matt 12:29 is this, of all the 613 commandments, at least make sure Deut 6:4-5 is continuously on your mind.
If we love someone, we have no problem thinking of them continuously, no matter what we do. If we love Yehovah, we will have no problem continuously thinking about His name and how He is one.
This does not mean we are exempt from thinking of the other 611 commandments or exempt from learning them. But what it does mean is that Yehovah understands in a busy life we dont have the brain capacity to think of 613 commandments but have the brain capacity to think of two. And those two are found in Matt 12:29, Deut 6.4-5. If we manage to think of these two, then Yehovah will do the rest and write the rest on our hearts, so when we need them, the Holy Spirit will bring them to our minds.
This is also the key to understand the new covenant in Jeremiah 31. Both covenants expect us to have the Torah on our minds, but the difference between the Old and the New is that in the New covenant, Yehovah, places it in our mind by His Holy Spirit. And by obeying Matt 12:29, we give the Holy Spirit the tools He needs to write the rest of the Torah on our minds. So if we continuously think of Yehovah and how He is our God and He is one, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind whatever we need of the other 611 commandments.
I have seen this myself in my own life after I started following the Torah.
Living a regular life with a family, a 9-5 job, it is almost impossible for me to continually think about 613 commandments. When I am driving, I need to focus on the traffic, not on the Torah. But because I love Yehovah, I have no problem continually thinking, “Yehovah is my God, Yehovah is one, I love Yehovah with all my mind, all my soul and all my strength.”
When I make these two commandments the object of my faith, I have seen time and time again how the Holy Spirit in me has brought to mind other commandments. The Holy Spirit can do this because I make it a habit to study the Torah and learn it.
What does it mean when I say “the object of my faith?” It means that I choose to believe the Bible when it says that it will go well with me if I think of the Torah. (Matt 6:25-34)
One such example happened just yesterday:
Even though I hold the office of an Apostle, I am still a human being. As with all humans, money is a constant source of worrying. Each month I have to pay the bills for the ministry to make sure I can continue to provide free ministry to my global congregation.
On top of that, I have to feed my family. I am responsible for making sure my family can pay the monthly expenses, and have food on the table.
Dont get me wrong, Yehovah has never let me down. I have always been able to pay both the bills for the ministry and take care of my family. I have seen this time and time again, so I know I can trust Yehovah.
Even though I know all of this to be true, I know I can trust Him; I used to worry at the end of each month.
I knew there was no need to worry; I knew I could trust Him, but it is difficult if not impossible sometimes to shake what feels so natural and right. It feels natural, right, and even the responsible thing to do to worry even though I knew it is a sin because what I was doing was doubting Yehovah.
For a long time, I struggled with this; I tried my best to remember and meditate on all the 613 commandments until I read Matt 12:29.
When I read Matt 12:29 it suddenly dawned on me, Yehovah has given me the key to this in Matt 12:29. I do not have to do the impossible and remember 613 commandments; I only have to remember 2: Yehovah is my God, Yehovah is one.
Whenever I feel worried about paying the bills for the ministry and feeding my family, I choose to fight worry with faith by reminding myself, “Yehovah is my God, Yehovah is one.”
When I choose to remind myself of Matt 12.29, Deut 6:3-6, all my worrying, all my fear goes away. My situation does not change, but instead, I have joy, peace, and trust. I can rest and be thankful, anticipating in faith, and with joy, what I will soon have.
How can I know for sure? How can I know for sure I will pay my bills this month and be healed if I or someone in my house needs healing?
Because Yehovah says so, in Deut 28:1-14 and Deut 6:3-6. He promises He will care for, heal, provide those who obey Him. So our Torah obedience guarantees God’s help. But our Torah obedience depends on us allowing the Holy Spirit to write the Torah on our minds, so we can continuously think of His Torah. This can only be done, if we use the key, and the key is to make Deut 6:3-6 the object of our faith: Yehovah is my God, Yehovah is one.