Today’s Bible Reading: DEUTERONOMY 6:1-9:29
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
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. -
This text is the great Hebrew “Shema”. It is learned by and recited by every Jew. The term means to hear or hearken. It is the Lord’s declaration of His oneness to His people (v 4) and it is His description of what He desires from His people. He wants His people to love Him (v 5), to learn from Him (v 6), to let others know about Him (v 7) and to live for Him (v 8-9).
As our text affirms, “the LORD is one”. God is one. There is no polytheism or pluralism in the Lord. He is not one of many gods. He is not a multiplicity of gods within himself. He is one. He is one in essence and one in being. Although comprised of three persons, He is one. Father, Son and Spirit are together as one. This oneness defines His being. He is one and there is no other one. He is the one we are to worship. He is the one we must seek, serve and share with others. He desires and deserves all our attention and affection.
We are to love Him. As the text admonishes, “you shall love the LORD”. God is love. He loves us. He desires we reciprocate in love. His love draws our affection. His love compels us. We react to His love for us. Our whole being is called upon to respond in Love toward Him. We are to adore Him with all our faculties: heart, soul and strength. We are to love the Lord.
We are to learn from Him. As the text affirms, His words “shall be on your heart”. We are to take to heart what we have heard from Him. We are to dissect the depths of His decrees. We are to ponder His precepts. We are to glean from all that He says. We are to position His words on our heart. We are to decipher them and dwell on them to discern all the wisdom within them. We are to learn from the Lord.
We are to let others know what we have come to know. We are told to “teach them . . . to our children” and “talk of them when. . . “. We are to instruct those in our sphere of influence. We are to teach our children the truths that we were told. We are to educate them in the way as we “walk by the way”. We are to discuss and demonstrate the principles and precepts of the Lord as we live life among them. There is no place where we are not to make them known. We are to proclaim His principles to everyone in our path every day. We are to let others know about Him.
We are to live for Him. It is not only the acquisition of information, but its application. It is living out what we have learned. Biblical truths are to be incorporated into what we see with our eyes and implemented in how we serve with our hands. We are to bind them on our hands and before our eyes so that they can focus our attention and formulate our actions. God’s word becomes the filter for our eyes and the foundation for our efforts. We are to live for Him.
It is only by the presence and power of His indwelling Spirit that we are capable of acknowledging His oneness. It is by His Spirit that we have the capacity to love Him, learn from Him, let others know of Him and to live for Him. We must rely on His Spirit to respond to His Shema.
Today contemplate all the aspects of the “Shema’. Consider your response to the four elements of this exhortation. Examine your love for God, how you learn from God, how you let others know about Him and how you are living for Him. Commit this text to memory. Make its principles your passionate pursuit. Ask the Lord to help you by the power of His Spirit to love Him, learn from Him, let other know about Him and to live for Him. Do the “Shema”.
Comments