The LORD your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.
This part of scripture contains lots of words we mortals don’t like to hear – follow, fear, commandment, obey, serve. On first reading, this sounds like everything we try to avoid, at least when it comes to our rugged individualistic desires. You are not the boss of me.
But the accompanying reflection from Bernard of Clairvaux address how these traits, while they may be unpalatable based on human desires, when we turn towards God, these are traits we actually seek. In our desire to be autonomous and self-determining, we follow what we want, we pursue what we want, we obey when we want, we serve when we want. And in the end of all that, of all that we want, we have not obtained what our heart and soul really desire. Maybe we have more money, or prestige, more power. But as Clairvaux writes, “For by the law of human desire that causes man to hunger more for the things he does not have than for the things he has, and to spurn what he has for the sake of things he does not possess, soon he has obtained and cast aside everything in heaven and on earth”. The pursuit of our earthly desires leaves us wanting, wanting the one thing that created things cannot be – the creator.
Clairvaux continues, “I do not doubt that he will rush toward the only thing he now lacks—the God of all”. If that is true, and I believe it is, why would we spend our lives pursuing things, experiences, power wealth, autonomy, when it will not satisfy that deep craving for God? Regardless of how much we run away from God, or pursue things that are not God, we will eventually seek the One who made us and all we’ve been pursuing.
The reflection concludes with a sentence I want to rest in for a long time. “[F]or just as there is no rest this side of heaven, so on the other side nothing can disturb his rest.” Yes! In our maniacal pursuit of all things worldly, we cannot find rest on this side of heaven.
In this light, the words like follow, fear, command, and obey have more appeal to me. If rest can be found on the other side, why wouldn’t I at least try to pursue heavenly things now? Maybe I can get a taste of that rest, that resting in God, if I were to stop insisting that I’m my master, that I can pursue whatever I want. Why wouldn’t I obey the commandment to rest? Why wouldn’t I only follow God, rather than the all-mighty cultural prize of power, prestige, money?
This morning, I’m thinking about how there is unexpected freedom in following and obeying God. If I can step away from the race way from God, and instead hold fast to God, I believe I can find bits of peace this side of heaven. Of course, the next time the runners round the corner and pass my spot in the stands, I might again join that race. But maybe not every time they pass.
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