Passing it On

I hope that everyone enjoyed the Podcast that I posted this weekend. I am going to try and post a Podcast each week, hopefully I will get a little better each week at the sound control. If you had difficulty in hearing it or anything else please let me know.

I am going to be looking at a few verses out of Deuteronomy 6:1-2, 5-8

I think sometimes that we forget just how important it is for us to take the time to study God’s word. In these verses we find out that obeying God is not just for out benefit, but also for the benefit of others.
We as parents have the responsibility to pass the commandments of God and the love that he has for us. Showing our children the promises that God gives us for obeying His commands. In today’s world of passing the buck so to speak onto someone else for the teaching of our children, we have made ourselves as parents a little powerless. Yes, we depend on our school systems to teach our children the knowledge they will need to graduate to a knowledge level that has been set by the state. However we can not depend on them to teach our children morals and values, especially those of the word of God. That is our place to teach and the only thing that a school should be doing, which many do not, is to reenforce those values. We will leave all of that talk for another blog post. Let us take a look at what God says we are to do and the promise He gives us in doing so. First we are to take the teaching of the law commands from God and learn them ourselves. We cannot teach our children anything if we do not take the time to study God’s word; bottom line you cannot teach what you do not know. Next we are to take these teachings and teach them to our children so they can teach them to their children and so on for generations to come. How is that for immortality for you? By following these commands God’s gives a promise of a long life. What are these commands that God give us? The one mentioned here and is later quoted by Jesus as being the greatest commandment is Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Moses goes on to say, that we are to write these commands upon our hearts, we are to impress them upon our children. It is interesting here that Moses do not just use the word teach, but impress our children. When you are impressing something on someone you are not just teaching them but you are also showing them by doing the very thing you are teaching. In other words you have to live these commands in order to truly teach your children. We are to talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk on the road. Think to yourself when was the last time you were sitting down and home and talking to your children about God and word? Most of the time I think it is safe to say the TV is doing most of the talking. How about when you are going somewhere? Whether it is taking your child to school in the morning or you are running to the grocery store, have you talked with them? You may say “awe my kids do not really listen when I start talking about these things” or “my kids learn these things in Sunday school, I am good Christian and we attend church regularly. Once again these scriptures tell us that it is our responsibility to teach our children. We are going to be the ones God holds accountable for our children and the legacy we leave them. We are also told to think on these commands when we lie down and when we get up, tie them on our hands and write them on the frames of our homes and on our gates. You may be thinking to yourself that is all a bit eccentric don’t you think? No the point is that we are to surround ourselves with the very word of God, to protect us and our family from the enemy that is our to destroy us and our family. It is very interesting how this is very similar to the command Paul gives us in putting on the armor of God, we are to cover ourselves with His word. I hope everyone has a great day and finds the time to read a little scripture sometime today.