Study from Deuteronomy 4: 44 – 5: 8: 20; Passage for Reflection: Deut. 6: 6 – 7 … NIV 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
My Journal for Today: During my discipleship after I came to know Christ as my Lord and Savior, my mentor and my teachers and the leaders of my Christian education [remember this is occurring after I was 39 years old] taught me one practical principle involving my study of God’s truth from His word, the Bible. And this truth was that when I would read God’s word, through whatever author, book, or passage where God was repeating Himself over and over again, I was alerted to PAY ATTENTION and assimilate that truth, whatever it was, if it was pertinent to my life (which it often was).
And in today’s passages from Deut., Chapters 4 – 8, we read Moses repeating something we had heard God say through him a number of times during the first five books of the Bible, often referred to as “THE LAW” by orthodox Jews. And here today we have something emphasized in the highlight passage for today, a principle of diligence which we find being challenged greatly among those of us who believe that it is the responsibility of Godly parents to impart Godly principles into our kids and grandkids.
How often do we need to read from God’s word or hear from God’s messengers (i.e., His church leaders, preachers, and Christian educators) that we should teach our kids to obey God’s truth? BUT … [and it’s another BIG BUT in our world today] … how often do we find this instruction concerning what Christian parents need to be doing for their children ignored and often mocked by today’s believers who call themselves “christian.”
When my wife and I had children in their formative years of learning (i.e., in their pre-teen and teen years), we were agnostics; and I even flaunted my desire to put down Christianity and the Christians around me. But apparently with time enough to turn things around in the minds of our two daughters, Elly and I became Christians back then; and we began teaching our daughters the truth of God’s word; and now our daughters are about the age we were when we became Christians; and they, along with their husbands, are doing all they can to pass along God’s truth from the Bible to their kids, … our grandchildren.
And thus far what God instructs Godly parents to do in Deut. 6: 6-7, we see them doing on even a daily basis. And Elly and I are doing all we can to support and back up this discipleship process, taking every opportunity we can to pass along the essence of God’s truth which is conveyed by the Bible.
We want our children to understand and apply what Moses was trying to impart to the children of God, … that obedience to God’s truth from His Law was/is essential to our being the benefactors of God’s promises. And just prior to the statement of today’s highlight passage, there is a truth lain out for all God’s people to read and incorporate into our lives. It is called “The Great Shama,” which is the core Hebrew prayer, to which all believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and most certainly all Christians, must adhere. It is stated primarily in Deut. 6: 4 – 5 … “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” And Jesus became the fulfillment of this prayer on earth; and we, who call our selves by His Name, must live this out and teach it to our children and grandchildren.
To ignore this prayer and truth is to ignore the very God Who spoke it and commanded that His children pass it along to their children and their children’s children. The question first becomes, “Are we living it?” And then are we should be teaching it by example and principle to our children? I will leave that to be the application question for our lives from today’s study. And my friend, we simply cannot afford to be lax, or worse, to snub God by ignoring our responsibilities to convey this principle to our children and grandchildren.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, may I live to see the day when our grandchildren exhibit this truth of The Shama in their lives. Amen
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