LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Father, for the gift of your Word. Prepare me to receive and apply what you teach me through it today.
Read DEUTERONOMY 6
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Love the Lord Your God
6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 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. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
20 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” 21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Search your heart to see if verse 5 is true for you. If the fire has dimmed, how may it be rekindled?
Like an intricate fugue, three themes interweave in this chapter: (1) God’s commandments, laws, decrees, stipulations; (2) what the Lord has done and will do for and to his people; and (3) lots of verbs describing how the people are to respond to God. Consider tracing these themes, perhaps with a colored pen. Remember that Jesus battled Satan with two verses from this chapter (vv. 13,16)1 and that here he found also the greatest commandment (v. 5).2
Verses 4 and 5 are the first words of the Torah that a Jewish child learns. Listen! God is the Lord. He is the only God. We are to love him totally, with all our heart and soul and ‘muchness’ (literally). This is the plumb line running through Jewish life. Love is commanded—so it is not just a feeling which may come or go. It denotes obedience, loyalty, reverence—and it is linked with fearing God too (v. 24), with which it is completely compatible. It is assumed (v. 7) that this is a family matter which is talked about at home with children and grandchildren; many Jews still have a mezuzah on their door frame; not so many have a phylactery on their foreheads. It is more important, though, to have these words bound on one’s heart3 than on one’s arm, neck, or head. What is your faith-gift to your children and grandchildren, if you have any, or to any youngsters who are near to you?
Echo the thanks of this chapter for all the wonderful gifts that God has given to you, especially for those Christians who have helped you on your own pilgrimage.
Apply
In light of the current difficult situation in the Holy Land, look to God for wisdom as you read verses 10–12.
Closing prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you that your correction and instruction bring me life. Help me to keep them as the mainstay of my journey with you.
1 Luke 4:8, 12 2 Matt 22:37 3 Prov 6:20–22
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