Here again (in Deuteronomy chapter 10) is mentioned what came before us in Deuteronomy 6:5-- that which our Lord called "the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:38), for to love God sincerely with heart and soul would carry with it obedience to all the commandments He gave. Hence that word through the apostle Paul, "Love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:10).

What should have moved them was the love that God had shown to their fathers, and in choosing them to be very specially His people above all others. How much greater is the love that has been displayed toward us in Christ!

Now in the first place they were to "circumcise" their hearts (verse 16) as an answer to the love shown to them. We again find the apostle Paul alluding to this in Romans 2:28-29. The rite of circumcision was established in connection with the patriarchal covenant, as we read in Genesis 17, though confirmed later in connection with the law.

The inveterate tendency was to observe the outward ceremony and overlook its significance. Israel was to be a people completely cut off for and to God. Had there been circumcision of heart, there would have been the cutting off of self-love, in the knowledge of the love of God.

The same tendency to lay much stress on outward, visible ceremony, while overlooking the inward, spiritual import, is with us today. Take the ordinance of baptism, for instance. We are not furnished with an exact, detailed description of just how it was administered, hence the much discussion and argument as to the outward ceremony.

If as much attention had been paid to the spiritual meaning of the ordinance, as stated in the early verses of Romans 6, we should have gained far more profit: dead and buried with Christ-- our old life, as in Adam, judged-- and "newness of life" is now to characterize us.

Had Israel circumcised their hearts, a second thing would have marked them: They would have shown love to the stranger who might be in their midst (verse 19). We also are to display the love that has reached us by seeking others with the gospel of the grace of God.