"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth."
Many Orthodox Jews are very literal in practice, wearing and placing God's commandments as described in this passage, but, like many of us, often missing the point. What God is getting at are two things: "You shall therefore impress (lit., put) these words of mine on your heart and on your soul," and "you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up." The other things mentioned are visual helps in making the point that His word must be the most important thing in our own lives and in the lives of our children. I heard of a professor of Bible and Theology who said to his students at the beginning of the year, "I aim to bias you". This same purpose needs to grip us with our children if we really believe God's word to be God's word. We should aim to bias them toward truth. Children sense our heart language, and if the word of God isn't everything to us, they will follow our lead. Someone teasingly accused my wife and me that, "You're kids are going to to heaven whether they like it or not." They sensed our commitment and purpose in life and we wanted our children to sense the same. The word of God was our compass or authority in life. Friends, to lose the sense of God's word as authoritative in our lives is to lose our way in every way because we no longer have a moral compass. All we have to do is look around us historically and presently, to understand that, with no moral compass, man is a mess. Israel proved this over and over again. With His word, God has saved us from our own devices, bringing dignity and direction back into our lives. Blessed is the home where the word of God is sown in the hearts through living it with the family, reading it with the family, talking it with the family and walking it with the family . That's what our text is saying. Our children, in their growing up years, know if the word of God is just our formal creed or if it's truly a working creed. They know if the word of God is our whole life or just an add on. This is a great responsibility, but we have a great God. If you want to be blessed indeed, Immerse yourself in Him and take your children in with you. They will follow your lead.
Many Orthodox Jews are very literal in practice, wearing and placing God's commandments as described in this passage, but, like many of us, often missing the point. What God is getting at are two things: "You shall therefore impress (lit., put) these words of mine on your heart and on your soul," and "you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up." The other things mentioned are visual helps in making the point that His word must be the most important thing in our own lives and in the lives of our children. I heard of a professor of Bible and Theology who said to his students at the beginning of the year, "I aim to bias you". This same purpose needs to grip us with our children if we really believe God's word to be God's word. We should aim to bias them toward truth. Children sense our heart language, and if the word of God isn't everything to us, they will follow our lead. Someone teasingly accused my wife and me that, "You're kids are going to to heaven whether they like it or not." They sensed our commitment and purpose in life and we wanted our children to sense the same. The word of God was our compass or authority in life. Friends, to lose the sense of God's word as authoritative in our lives is to lose our way in every way because we no longer have a moral compass. All we have to do is look around us historically and presently, to understand that, with no moral compass, man is a mess. Israel proved this over and over again. With His word, God has saved us from our own devices, bringing dignity and direction back into our lives. Blessed is the home where the word of God is sown in the hearts through living it with the family, reading it with the family, talking it with the family and walking it with the family . That's what our text is saying. Our children, in their growing up years, know if the word of God is just our formal creed or if it's truly a working creed. They know if the word of God is our whole life or just an add on. This is a great responsibility, but we have a great God. If you want to be blessed indeed, Immerse yourself in Him and take your children in with you. They will follow your lead.
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