July 2 - Deuteronomy 6:1-6

 

Recite … the commandment … [to] love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might … to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. - Deuteronomy 6:1-6

 

As the Exodus draws to a close, what does God say just as Israel is about “¹ cross into and occupy … the land” of Israel?

 

God gives them a commandment.

 

Speaking through Moses in Deuteronomy 6, God says, “¹ Now this is the commandment [you must] observe in the land … ⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

 

That’s part one. Indeed, these words from Deuteronomy 6:5 are precisely what Jesus calls “the greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:36-37).

 

But there’s a part two. A second half of the commandment. Speaking through Moses, God speaks to faithful parents, saying, “⁷ Recite [these love commandments] to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.”

 

This is family ministry.

 

And this command has a purpose, a “so that.” Why should we love God and teach love of God to our children? “² So that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life.” So that faith may continue generation after generation.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy whose greatest heroes

are parents who teach faith

to their children