Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
In our last post, we noted that God’s commands are given to us for our own good (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). If we follow God’s instruction, it will preserve us and protect us from the heartaches and dangers that threaten us in this fallen world. We also noted how we live in a day when many are searching for their “authentic self.” God’s Word is the only legitimate roadmap. True self-discovery begins with an acknowledgement of the God who made us. Though we were created in His image, our natures have been corrupted by sin. The only real remedy is a regenerated heart and a mind renewed with Scripture. Fidelity to God’s Word is essential to godly, fatherly instruction. We must not entertain any deviation or rationalization of God’s commands.
Moses instructs us to “bind God’s commands” to our heads and our hands because cannot live a godly life without the Scripture informing our thoughts and governing our behavior. We must keep God’s Word foremost in our thoughts that it might direct and pervade our day-to-day routines. The principle is profound. Scripture must govern the way we think. However, thinking like a Christian does not come naturally. We are fallen creatures. Our default is to think like the world. This is why Scripture admonishes us to renew our minds with God’s Word. Binding His Word to our heads is a picture of renovating the way we think by restructuring our assumptions and aligning our reasoning with His Word. Binding His Word to our hands is a picture of behavior controlled by the Lord’s commands so that our deeds might conform to His pleasure and will. The Word of the Lord is to pervade our lives. It should be the atmosphere we breathe and the sun around which our lives orbit.
To facilitate this ubiquitous influence of God’s Word, Moses instructs us to write the Lord’s commands on the doorposts of our houses and on our gates. In other words, we are to keep His word front and center. Scripture should so saturate our lives that, wherever we turn, we find ourselves confronted with His word. God’s revelation should be the first thing we that comes to mind, not the last. We are to talk Scripture to our children. We should begin our day with God’s Word (when we rise), and it ought to be the last thing on our hearts as we retire for the day (when we lie down). Whether we are sitting in our house or going about our daily activities, the Scripture must be afforded preeminence. When it comes to raising our children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord, fathers are never “off the clock.”
We are to talk Scripture to our children. We should begin our day with God’s Word (when we rise), and it ought to be the last thing on our hearts as we retire for the day (when we lie down).
The comprehensive admonition in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 covers all we say and do. As fathers, we would do well to remember the adage, “Your life is speaking so loudly, I can’t hear what you’re saying.” While our words are important, how we live is equally so. I was blessed to be raised by a father who not only spoke of the Gospel; the Gospel was his life. As with every household is in this in-between time, my childhood home was far from perfect. There were periods of confusion and moments of disappointment. But much of that was due to false expectations that resulted from poor biblical teaching. However, even those times of confusion and disappointment became lessons, not only for my father but, through his godly leadership, for his family as well. I grew up in a home where there was an unquestionable dedication to God’s purpose and an incontestable commitment to His Word. This gradually guided us toward a far more comprehensive understanding of God’s revealed will. Looking back, I can see the evidence of the Lord’s work in my home long before the details and particulars of sound doctrine were fully understood and embraced. I saw the fruit of the Spirit in my father. There was evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work expressed through godly character and reverent attitudes. Such traits and commitments naturally lead to sound doctrine. Such was the case in the life and ministry of my father. He led me in paths of righteousness.
It is the covenantal responsibility of a father to diligently teach God’s Word to his children while leading them to live every day in submission to the Lord’s will regarding every facet of life. In our next post I will relate some of the invaluable lessons of godliness I learned from my earthly father’s instruction and example.
