These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. – Deuteronomy 6:6

Today's Scripture Reading (January 7, 2022): Deuteronomy 6

Where do you stand on COVID-19 restrictions? I realize that it is a difficult question to ask. But it is one that I keep asking myself almost continuously. What do I really believe? Early on, I was not sure about the vaccines. My reality was a bit different from the concerns of some of the other vaccine-hesitant people. My truth is that I have never been vaccinated against anything. It is not that I, or my parents, are anti-vaccine. I have some health concerns that have always made vaccination a little more problematic for me than it might be for others. Doctors have always instructed me to stay unvaccinated because the risk of sickness is lower in a vaccinated society than the risk of getting sick because of the vaccine. I am protected because those around me are vaccinated and protected. But the COVID-19 pandemic was a little different. Many around me were not vaccinated, and so I wasn't protected. And what I did next depended on what I really believed about the vaccines. The question was simple, where do I stand on vaccines and the pandemic as a whole. The answer to that question is that I believe vaccines are the path back to normality. So, I got vaccinated. Even with the very real health risk that still existed from the vaccine, it was the path that I felt I needed to take.

I have no idea where you might stand on the pandemic, masks, or even the vaccines. But my question is more this; do your words match your actions. What frustrates me has never been people who disagree with me, regardless of the subject. I am frustrated by people who talk a hard line but refuse to act according to their words. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it is those who support masks and lockdowns and think that everyone should be vaccinated, often complaining that the government is not doing enough to protect the population, but then go out and cut corners because the restrictions are not convenient. If you are going to talk a hard line, you better be ready to follow it even when you would rather not.

As Moses continues his instructions to Israel, he tells the people that these commandments are to be "on their hearts." The intention of the words are that if they wanted to live long in the land, they needed to internalize the commandments. The commandments could not be something that existed on their lips but did not live in their actions. These commandments were required to reside in the core beliefs of the people. They had to occupy that space where they would be followed both when they were convenient and when they were not. Because if the commandments just existed on the people's lips, the commandments would be nothing more than noise, and the last thing that our world needs is more noise.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 7