I had the honor and privilage of filling in for our pastor while he was away.  That meant getting to preach during the evening service.  Let me tell you, I was excited.  I’ve never had the opportunity to preach in that setting before and I was very much looking forward to it.  I knew exactly what I needed to preach on, as it had been on my heart since before being called to this church.

Deuteronomy 6

This has to be one of the most explicit passages concerning the biblical mandate to train our children and teach our family the ways and things of God.  Deuteronomy 6

The Greatest Commandment

 1“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

 4“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 10 “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God— lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

 16 ”You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers 19 by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised.

 20 ”When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ’We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’  (Deuteronomy 6, ESV)

This is clear bible here.  We have to be training our children.  We need to know what the commandments of God are, we need to do them, teach them to our children, and we need to testify to our children of the reason we hold to these teachings!  

That last section is very poignant.  Put it in a scenario of today and you have something like this: “Daddy, why are you on your knees every morning praying?” or “Why are you always teaching us these things when we sit around the table to eat dinner, or in the morning before we go out, why do you do that?”  and the father can say: “well, child, there was a time when I was not who I am today.  I was mean, terrible, I hated God, I didn’t love anything except myself.  I was a slave to my own sin, and dead in sin as well.  But then the Lord drew me with his Spirit, showed me my sinfulness He who has the power to raise dead men to life caused me to repent and believe on Him.  He made me a new creature, gave me new life.  That is why I teach these things child.  Because our God is worthy of this, demands this of us, and I want to please Him.”  What an awesome testimony and teaching point for your child when they ask you why you do devotions or teach lessons at home.  In the scripture passage is the recurring phrase “And the Lord”….. what amazing 3 words.  Much like the testimony of the father with his “But then the Lord”, the Israelites can say “and the Lord” did this, “and the Lord” brought us out of Egypt, “and the Lord”.  

All of mankind is as the Israelites in Egypt.  Slaves.  Bound.  Sinful.  Dead.  But those who are redeemed can say “And the Lord”.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jordan

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