Carefulness is an important life skill. This is why we teach it to our children. How many a parent says to his child, “Now be careful.” We do this because carelessness can lead to terrible mistakes or even deadly accidents. We have to learn to be careful. The Bible also uses the word “careful.” You find it e.g. in Deuteronomy 6:25 – “And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God...” In fact, the word “careful” is used most often in the book Deuteronomy. It is not out of place to say that this book teaches God’s people carefulness.

In Deuteronomy Moses is about to leave Israel. Soon the LORD will call him home. His task is over. Before he goes he wants to remind Israel of its riches and its calling. He reminds the people of what the LORD has done for them and what He expects from them. It is a farewell sermon of a servant who has worked many years with this people. The result is a wonderful blend of commandments and reasons why. These two are woven through each other.

When you read this book you will notice that the LORD had given many commandments to His people. Moses even uses several terms to refer to them: statutes, laws, ordinances. These commandments deal with every aspect of life: warfare, business, crops in the fields, fences on the roof of your house, care for animals, etc. These laws also applied to the children. They too are part of Israel. In the beginning of this chapter we find the well-known words that the father shall teach his children these commandments.

But what does a child do when he hears about all these laws? He asks the simple question “Why?” There are so many. Why? This is a very normal question that many children ask, that teenagers struggle with and that as adults we can have a hard time to answer. Why so many commandments? Why can it not be done differently. Why so strict?

The LORD gives the parents the task to answer this question. The LORD does not brush the question aside. No, He says, “When your child asks that question, then answer your child.” The answer is, because we were slaves in Egypt and the LORD took us out of Egypt. A remarkable answer. Imagine a child asking a father, “Why do we have to serve the Lord so strictly?” And the father answers, “Because in the Reformation we were set free by the LORD.” The child would say, “So what? I wasn’t there. What do I have to do with what happened then?” Everything. If God would not have done that, where would you be today?

Note in this connection the difference between the question and the answer. The child asks, “Why has the LORD commanded you all these commandments?” He says “You,” as if it does not involve the child. But the answer starts with “We.” This instruction about the laws and commandments of the LORD begins with showing the children how they are involved in the work of God. “When the LORD led Israel out of Egypt, He thought about you too. When He sent His Son into this world He thought about you. When the Lord gave men like Luther and Calvin, He also thought of you, my child.”

These laws and commandments and the call to carefully obey them must be understood in the light of this work of God through the generations. If you have invested much into a project you want it to go the right way. The LORD has invested much in His church. He does not want it to come to a stop. He wants His work to continue. Therefore He gave these laws, and calls His people to be careful to do them.

To be careful means that you give it all your attention, you do it thoroughly and painstakingly. The opposite is carelessness. To be careful in your writing means that you put great effort into it. To be careless means you quickly scribble something down, you don’t look it over.

This is what the LORD asks of his people in the way they live before Him, that they are careful, that they cross the T’s and dot the I’s. It means that we do our utmost to obey the will of the LORD. We show carefulness in how we live with the Lord, in our personal devotions, and in our family devotions. We show carefulness in our entertainment, in our appearance. We are careful to be a living member of the church. We need to be reminded of it constantly. Carefulness means to bring our lives in submission to the word of God.

This is an important instruction. Carelessness is the attitude of deformation. It says: “Don’t be so precise;” or, “It isn’t as simple and easy as our fathers said.” The LORD calls for carefulness in how we live before Him, in how we teach our children to live before Him. It concerns the future of the church. Verse 24 says in keeping these laws carefully there is life. Carelessness leads to destruction, but carefulness builds up. The LORD blesses His children that carefully live from Him, in Him and to Him.