“And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
– Deuteronomy 6:6-7
The Word of God was something that the Israelites were to take very seriously. What God had commanded them to do was to be on their mind at all times. What they were commanded revealed to them the character and nature of God. It showed them that when they sinned, a blood sacrifice was to be made to pay the penalty for their sin. It reminded them all that God had done for them, and how they should constantly give thanks and remember. The words that God commanded were not meant to be put aside, they were to be the center of their world. They were meant to be what influenced their every thought and action. Not only that, they were to converse about the words of the Lord. They were to teach them to their children.
Today, the words of the Lord should be just as important to us. There are many who go to church on a Sunday morning, and maybe they go to another service during the week. After they attend those services, they go back home and nothing changes. They forget what they learned, they do not talk about what the Bible says, and they do not make time to read what God has said in Scripture on their own. We live in a culture where children are growing up, not knowing the Word of God, not being taught the things of God, and not knowing how to have the Word of God influence their life. This allows them to be easily swayed by the false doctrine that this world offers. And that false doctrine has infiltrated the American Church.
May I encourage you to make time to study God’s Word. Go to church, and do not just go, but read and study Scripture on your own, too. Meditate on the Word of God, talk about it with other people and with your family. Make it such a part of your everyday life that it influences everything you do. It was important for the Israelites, and it is important for us.