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God the Charge


 

In 1959 a new football franchise in Los Angeles was created as part of the new American Football League. The team owner, Barron Hilton of the Hilton Hotel family, held a competition to name the team. The winning name was the Chargers, which, according to Hilton, was based on the tradition at LA Dodgers baseball games of playing a bugle and the fans yelling, “Charge!” While that may be true, critics of Hilton accused him of picking the name because it happened to coincide with the launch of his new charge card company. 

 

When we talk about charging, we can think of troops (or athletes) charging into battle; or we can think of charging a credit card. But I want us to think of a different kind of charge for a minute. Deuteronomy 11:1 says, “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His rules, and His commandments always.”

 

This is Moses speaking, knowing he was at the end of his life. The Lord allowed him to address Israel one last time, and in his final speech he encouraged the people to keep God’s charge. This Hebrew word refers to an ordinance that we have a duty to keep; it could be translated as a requirement. This is the idea behind our expression of being in charge. Sometimes we come into a chaotic situation and we demand to know, “Who is in charge here?” 

 

Moses didn’t want there to ever be any confusion about who was in charge. He would have Joshua as his successor, but God was the one in charge. Our human tendency is for us to be in charge. We want to write the rule book for our own lives. We want to be captain of our own ship. So why does God get to be in charge?

 

If we continue reading in Deuteronomy, over the next eight verses Moses recounted the “mighty acts” of God. Moses said, “For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did (v.7),” which included the Ten Plagues in Egypt, destroying the armies of Pharaoh after parting the Red Sea, and many other miracles in the wilderness. God is the Charger because He alone can work mighty miracles. He is the sovereign Creator of the universe. He is the Potter, and we are just clay in His holy hands.

 

We might not always understand God’s ways, and if we are honest, we might not even like them, but they are not up for debate. God is the Charger. He gives the orders, and it is in our best interest to follow Him. 

 

   

 

 

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