You Shall Teach Them Diligently To Your Children

 When I became a Christian, the Lord placed in me a strong desire to read His Word every single day. I started out in the book of John learning about who Jesus really was and what He did. Then, I started doing some topical studies on the areas of who I was in Christ, marriage, and parenting. I knew I wanted to be the best Christian, wife, and mom I could be, so I started there. As I was studying Scripture about parenting, this verse popped out at me and was like an audible voice from God telling me how to be a godly parent.

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,
   with all your soul, and with all your strength.
⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children,
   and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
   when you walk by the way,
   when you lie down, and when you rise up.
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.

It was as if I read it and heard it as, “Hear, O Ashley: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.” So, step one was to love the Lord with everything I had and know that He was the only God. Step two was to put God’s Word into my own heart by reading, studying, memorizing, praying, and living it out. So, I set out to make sure I was always doing that. I praise God for the hunger He has given me for His Word. So, love God and His Word. Spend time in His Word every day. You won’t regret it.

Then as I continued, “Ashley, you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Step three was to teach my children the Word of God basically 24/7. That meant that God was ever on our hearts and minds and in any situation, we were to teach our children.

How do we do this?
- Set aside time each day to read the Scriptures with our children and talk about what it means
- Set aside time and as things come up throughout the day, pray with our children
- Spend time memorizing the Word of God through programs like AWANA and/or picking out verses to memorize as a family
- Spend time worshiping God each day through music. Turn on worship music around the house or in the car as we drive. So many times, Scripture is laced in the worship music. What a great way to hide God’s Word in our hearts.
- Probably the most important way, is to just be ready and willing to point our children to the Lord anytime and anywhere. For example, when your child has a test they are anxious about, you can pray with them this very simple Scripture: “God, You have not given (insert child’s name) a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind to do well on their test (2 Tim 1:7). Amen!”

Continuing on, “Ashley, 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.” In Jewish history, the Jews took these verses literally and made phylacteries (boxes that contained Scripture) and put them around their hands and head with leather. While this was a unique way to have God’s Word on your hands and in front of your eyes, I believe it is most important to write the Word on your heart and have it readily available to pour out anytime. If you need to write Scripture on your hands, go for it. I also like to put Scripture up all around my house. It is a reminder to all of us when we see it. I encourage you to surround yourself with Scripture.