Deuteronomy 4: Pep Talk at the Border

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

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Four decades after leaving Egypt, the Israelites stand again at the edge of the promised land. With the older generation of doubters and grumblers now dead and buried, a new generation chafes to march in and claim the land. Egypt is a faint memory from childhood, for God's people now have their own cultural identity.

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Here at the border, the elderly man Moses delivers three speeches, his final opportunities to advise and inspire the people he has led for 40 tumultuous years. Passionately, deliberately, tearfully, he reviews their history step-by-step.

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In this chapter Moses recalls the hallmark day when God delivered the covenant on Mount Sinai. He remembers aloud the black clouds and deep darkness and blazing fire. God took on no shape or form then, he reminds them; so don't repeat the mistakes of your parents, who melted their gold into an idol. Moses' central message: Never forget the lessons you learned in the desert.

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Besides all the warnings, Moses gives a kind of pep talk, a challenge for the Israelites to claim their unique calling as a nation. If they follow God's laws, the lavish advantages of the covenant will be theirs: uninterrupted peace, health, and prosperity. Every other nation will look to them and want to know their God.

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Moses seems incurably astonished at all God has done for him and the Israelites. This speech represents his last, best chance to communicate that sense of wonder and thanksgiving to the next generation.

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Life Question: When was the last time you gave a pep talk? Was it a success?

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I have a friend at work who is going through a divorce. Having experienced one as well, I think/ hope that I was able to offer a perspective that may have been helpful. For me, it's always a challenge to inspire as oppose to preach to someone who may be hurting or in need of some direction. You certainly want to speak with prudence, but I also think that listening can be a key component in any pep talk as well.