Hear, Speak, Write, Do

Read Deuteronomy 6
 
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 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. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  
 
SEVEN times in Deuteronomy, Moses writes, “Love the Lord your God.” This particular passage is known as the Shema (She ma). It means, as the first word says, “Hear to know that the next words are absolutely necessary to know. These are “must do’s” regarding the welfare of God’s people in their relationship with God and with one another. “Hear, O Israel!” is God’s way of saying, “Listen to me! Your life depends on it.”
    What must they hear? First they will hear, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” To know this essential truth means one eagerly responds to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Remember, this is the first and greatest commandment. When you love the Lord so completely, you will joyfully in love obey the Father’s will.
    It follows, then, that, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” What do you do with God’s commands on your heart? You begin to speak, write and do them. As a parent, grandparent, adult, teacher and disciple, you love God’s Word so much you lovingly “impress them on your children.” Yes, emphasize God’s teaching and influence children. Be constant to live with integrity to, “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” All you speak and do is to be done in the light of your love for God’s commands.
    From the hearing, speaking, writing and doing, God’s commands become more interconnected with your life. You write them on paper, so they are more real to you. You share them in a note, an email, a text or a message. You spiritually or even literally tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. You let all know God’s truth reigns in your home as you write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
    Listen, the Word of God must be written onto your heart and soul. Your children, church and strangers will know who is your God because his Word marks your public and private life. God commands you to love him so much you will joyfully tell the next generation who he is with each aspect of your life.
 
John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (Jesus said that.)