SCRIPTURE: DEUTERONOMY 6
IMPORTANT VERSES:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)
“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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:7-9)
“Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” (Deuteronomy 6:13)
“Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.” (Deuteronomy 6:14)
“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.” (Deuteronomy 6:15)
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD (vs. 1-25)
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, 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. Hear, O 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 fathers, promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
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, 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, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 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. Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 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 that the Lord promised on oath for your forefathers, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
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?” Tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders – great and terrible -upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. 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. 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.”
THOUGHTS: (From Life Application Study Bible)
Monotheism – belief in only one God – was a distinctive feature of Hebrew religion. Many ancient religions believed in many gods. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of the whole earth, the only true God. This was an important insight for the nation of Israel because they were about to enter a land filled with people who believed in many gods. Both then and today, there are people who prefer to place their trust in many different “gods”. But the day is coming when God will be recognized as the only one. He will be the king over the whole earth.
We are to love God, think constantly about his commandments, teach his commandments to our children, and live each day by the guidelines in His Word. God emphasized the importance of parent’s teaching the Bible to their children. The church and Christian schools cannot be used to escape from this responsibility. Eternal truths are most effectively learned in the loving environment of a God-fearing home.
The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This commandment combined with the command to love your neighbor as yourself encompasses all the other Old Testament laws.
The best ways to teach your children to follow God are:
- Impress them on your children. (v.7a)
- Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (v.7b)
- Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. (v.8)
- Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (v. 9)
Moses warned the people not to forget God when they entered the Promised Land and became prosperous. Prosperity can dull our spiritual vision because it tends to make us self-sufficient and eager to acquire still more of everything – except God. This also happens to us. When we become self-sufficient , we are less sensitive to our need for God. This leads us to concentrate on self-preservation rather than thankfulness and service to God.
The Lord commanded us to obey all the decrees and to fear the Lord so that we might always prosper and be kept alive speaks of a good relationship with God and the ultimate benefit of knowing Him. It is not blanket protection against poverty, adversity or suffering.
THOUGHTS: (By Warren Wiersbe)
We must love the Lord with all our hearts by keeping all His Word all the days of our lives. He cannot accept half-hearted worship or obedience.
How do we show our love to God?
- By Hearing His Word
- By Obeying His Word
- By Sharing His Word with others.
- By Appreciating His blessings.
- By Thanking the giver.