March 14 - Deuteronomy 6:1-9:29

Good morning everyone,

As we begin reading this morning Moses continues to summarize the principals of keeping God's command, reiterating they should be careful to go obey God so that it will go well for them in the land of milk and honey.

Verses 4-9 which are basically a summary of the first four commandments, are what's known as the "Shima", translated "listen". These verses are recited twice a day, morning and evening, by orthodox Jews through out the world. God commands us to "Love The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength." He doesn't say I hope you feel love for me, He says choose to love me. You know, in our relationships with our spouses, family members, friends and even just people we work with or come into contact with every single day, we can choose to love. We can show kindness and understanding in our behavior even to those who are grumpy and especially difficult. Luke 6:32 says and it is basically repeated in Matthew 5:46 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you. Even sinners love those who love them." Jesus taught us that wherever our treasure is so our hearts will be also. I would encourage you to teach your heart to choose love.

One more thing I want to point out is verse 7 says speaking about the commandments, "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." Our children, our grandchildren, the kids next door the babies in the nurseries at church, every child you or I know has got to start hearing about Jesus from the time they are born. It is our responsibility to start hiding God's Word in their hearts with prayer, memory verses, our very own behavior and just talking about God in conversation every day to help them to recognize all that God does for us. To praise Him for His provisions and when times are tougher point out to them it is God's way of strengthening us. They need to know that God is ALWAYS there and always has our back. We have a very short window of influence children before the world steps in and will try to pull them in a different direction, one of corruption and death. We teach them to not run into traffic, to stay away from drugs, the right foods to eat, we need to also be teaching them about the armor God has provided for us and how to use it. Right?

Just as important at telling them how to to live for Jesus is showing them. Set for them a visual example of what a person living for God looks like. Don't just talk the talk, I would encourage you to walk the walk. By walking your talk you become a person others want to follow. These kids are our future, let's do the best we can to prepare them for it. Amen?

Have a great day to God be the glory.
God bless you all ...