And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 5:5-9Deuteronomy 5:5-9
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
5 but you were afraid of the fire and refused to go up the mountain. So I spoke with the Lord for you, then I told you that he had said: 6 I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves. 7 Do not worship any god except me. 8 ; . Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. 9 ; ; . Don't bow down and worship idols. I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me and worship idols, I will punish your families for three or four generations.
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This is an amazing passage, one that illuminates how God wants man to relate to him. And we usually focus on it in a very personal way – the way we individually should love God with our whole being. But we often stop short in reading it, ending after verse 5, or maybe verse 6. What a loss! Because it tells us that our faith is not something internal or independent. It is not something that is “personal” to the exclusion of being shared, of being “external”.
If our faith is real, and not just an act – or a comfortable way of life that we don’t question – then it is social. It impacts the things we do and the things we say. And when it comes to our children, a faith that is hidden away doesn’t really exist. It won’t be passed on; it won’t have the impact that God desires. It may make us feel at peace, but that peace will not pass on to future generations.
So God told the Israelites: Once you get it in your heads and hearts that I am focus number one, begin sharing it with your kids. Take every opportunity to share what you have learned about me. Surround yourselves with opportunities for sharing about me. Build into your homes and workplaces the knowledge of your relationship with me.
At this point, the thing to do is consider our own behavior. As parents, are we creating a setting which will help our kids come to know and love the God we follow? If you are not a parent yourself, are you prepared to support the body of Christ by being an example and a source of wisdom and faith that the kids around you can emulate?
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