April 10, 2024 | Be God's Light
Teach Your Family to Love the Lord your God
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6 (NIV)
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
20 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” 21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”
Devotional
It was time to think about the future. For forty years the Israelites would wander in the desert between Egyptian slavery and Promised Land sovereignty. God was guiding them every step of the way, providing food, water, leadership, commandments, victory and more. And once they entered the land He had promised, He would not abandon them.
Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.” Everyone wants their children and grandchildren to be taken care of. We go to great lengths to write wills to ensure that our offspring receive our worldly wealth.
Even more important is to pass on our spiritual wealth. How might a person with children or grandchildren follow the advice from this chapter to pass on a spiritual legacy? Answer that for each of these verses:
Be careful to obey God’s commands.
Impress them on your children.
Talk about them at home and away from home.
Make symbols to make them memorable.
Write down your faith.
Do not forget what the Lord has given you.
Fear, serve and follow God only.
Don’t put God to the test.
Rehearse the story of God often.
Poem
Shema!
Shema, my child
God is one, holy, holy
God is love, glory, glory
God alone, solely, solely
Give yourself
Which is why you were created
Shema, my child
Let me whisper in your ear
Let me breathe into your mouth
Let me anoint your aching eyes
With a truth
Which will give you life
Shema, my child
As the sun opens your eyes
As we walk along the way
As I tuck you into bed
Take in love
Which will feed your every hunger
Shema, my child
Here's the best I can give you
Here is honey in your mouth
Here is balm for your pain
Spirit's oil
Which anoints your very soul
