Posted Nov 30, 2020 |
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“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9
I truly learn something new every day. For instance, I have read this passage a million times, well maybe just a whole lot. The point is, it’s not my first time. Beautiful passage about love but it never occurred to me how I am supposed to follow it.
My two older daughters used to visit their biological dad for all the major breaks. They would see him during the majority of the summer time, as well. Whenever they would come back home our household would go through a major adjustment period.
They were given privileges there that they did not get at our house. They were allowed to behave differently over there but we have a more Biblical set of standards for our house. Needless to say, we were constantly trying to figure out the best way to help them understand appropriate godly behavior. Every year we sit down and see which rules, rewards and consequences are working and which are not.
We wanted God’s guidance to help make a smoother transition.
While making my list of what needed to happen with the girls, God brought this passage into view. Talk about a wake up call. I love God, I love others and display it all the time. I used to struggle with it in my home life and needed to check myself all the time. Questions like the following would circle my brain. Is my family dinner more important than my favorite t.v. show or not? Is family prayer time or family devotional time more important than peace and quiet from my kids?
Tough questions to be put in front of my face but the tough is what makes us grow.
So here is my lesson for the day: I need to demonstrate that passage daily to my children and husband, not just my friends or church members. With all that I have learned, it is not enough to tell my children how the house will change but to change me so that it is normal for my house to be the way God wants it to be.
I want an impression that will last!
