“These commandments that I give you today are to be on 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. Deuteronomy 6:6-8
I love the book of Deuteronomy.
And no, I don’t have a thing for copious chapters that explain the Mosaic Law.
So perhaps what I mean to say is that love the concept behind the book of Deuteronomy. The book is essentially one
big study hall. Moses is the teacher and the children of Israel Jordan River
is their classroom. And there they sit to review God’s expectation of them
before conquering the eminent Promised Land.
It had taken 40 years and two
generations to get to this place. All the adults who had experienced the Exodus
– except for Joshua and Caleb – were dead. Their children, determined to pass
the test that their parents had failed, sat on the verge of an expectant
promise to listen, to learn and to choose obedience over disobedience … life over
death. Their teacher Moses, ever steadfast and having only a few weeks to live,
is exhaustive in his review and admonishment.
It is within this context that he
gives the following instruction. I can hear him bellow: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress
them on your children.” And do so not sporadically or solely at religiously
appointed times but teach them when you sit. Teach them when you walk. Teach
them when you lie down. Teach them when you rise up. In short, Moses challenges the
people of God to provide godly instruction for their children as they shared
life together within the normalcy of the everyday. It was to be a natural practice. So natural, in fact, that
the experiences encountered within the ordinariness of the day inspired easy
conversation on the wonders of God and His salvation.
What a lofty challenge! Lofty,
for one reason: in order for one to naturally, constantly and sincerely display
God before his/her children, God would have to first be naturally, constantly
and sincerely cherished in the heart of that person. Simply put, we speak
easily about the things we love. As such, the topic of God becomes a natural conversation
at any given time or routine when that topic is the very joy of our hearts. The
center of Deuteronomy 6:6-8 then is not simply to teach your children but
rather to love the LORD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your might. Interestingly enough, these are the very words that precede the
commandment in verse five!
A Christian parent with a desire
to raise godly offspring must first have a desire to grow in their own
godliness before the LORD. There must be a commitment to sanctification and a
delight for the LORD apart from the instruction of one’s children. You must love the LORD with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your might – so much so that it overflows
to cover your children within the everydayness of life. Your central commitment
and prayer then as a parent dedicated to shaping godly offspring is for your
own shaping. May the grace of God enable us to live lives of discipleship and faithfulness
to the gospel of Jesus Christ – within the routineness of our “everyday.”
