Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 3: Getting the Word Inside Your Children. In Deuteronomy 6, the Lord spoke through Moses. He was preparing Israel to take possession of the Promised Land. Getting the Israelites out of Egypt was one thing, but getting Egypt out of them was a separate challenge. If the Israelites were going to take possession of Canaan and then live as God’s representatives in the earth, they were going to have to get God’s Word down inside their hearts. Which is why the Lord said the following:
Attention, Israel! God, our God! God the one and only! Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9 The Message Bible)
While we are clearly under the New Covenant today, the principles associated with this passage still apply today.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- God wants us to get His Word down in our hearts. Having the Word of God in your head is one thing, but getting it down in your heart takes it to another level. You provide God mental assent with your heart, but true submission, obedience and sacrifice come as acts of your heart.
- God instructed us to get His Word down inside of us, and to then get it down inside our children. The Blessing should not stop with us. God is too big a God and His assignment for your life is too big of an assignment, for God to be concerned with just you. When He looks at you, He sees your bloodline. Which is why the Bible teaches us that the decisions we make impact our children and our children’s children. God wants His Word to impact us, but He also wants us to get His Word down in our children, so The Blessing does not stop with us!
- Moses taught us to talk to our children about God’s Word. We are to do so from the time they get up to the time they go to bed. This is how important God’s Word is, and how important it should be in the lives of our children.
- Moses instructed us to talk to our children about God’s Word everywhere we go. We are to do so when we are at home, walking down the street, and throughout the day. Moses went to great lengths to drive home the importance of getting God’s Word down in our hearts and in the hearts of our children, because He knew the impact the Word would have. Once you get the Word of God down in your heart, you are in position to be the man/woman God called you to be.
- While the Lord was giving the Promised Land to the Israelites, the land was still inhabited. If they were going to lay hold of God’s promise, they were going to have to fight for it. Which is why God told them to get the Word down in their hearts and in the hearts of their children. When God promises you something, the fact that you have a promise does not mean it will not require a fight. Many times, God’s best is already stored up for you, but you are going to have to overcome obstacles and opposition in order to lay hold of it. This why you must meditate and medicate on God’s Word. The Word of God will sustain you while you are fighting the fight of faith required to lay hold of what God promised.
- The Word of God is the key to laying hold of God’s best. As you learn God’s ways, and You apply His principles, you get to enjoy what He planned for you to have from the foundations of the world. The Israelites did not heed God’s instruction. They failed to believe God’s promise. Millions of people died in the wilderness and they missed out on God’s best, because they did not believe God. If they had gotten God’s Word down in their hearts, the story of the Exodus may have been a different story. Don’t repeat the mistake they made. Get the Word down in your heart, get to the place where you truly believe God, and teach your children to live the same way!
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. My expectation is not tied to selfish desires. My expectation is tied to Your Word. I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night. I get Your Word down in my heart and I then get it down into the hearts of my children. I teach my children the Word of God daily. I keep it before their eyes. I talk to them about it when they get up, while we are going throughout the day, and while they are going to sleep. Your Word is LIFE to my family. It is health and healing to all our flesh. We crave Your Word. We stand on Your promises. We live by what You said and by what You say to us every day. Therefore, my children and my children’s children shall walk in Your best! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
