May the mumbling commence!
After the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy chapter five, several points are hammered home. A couple of them are don’ts the other two are do’s. I would like to focus my thoughts on the two do’s. Read a couple of passages from Deuteronomy chapter six:
"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Verses 4-9)
The Lord God is the only Lord – the Lord alone. Remember that. Love the Lord with all you have. This love is made real by obedience to the commands that God puts on our lives.
Repeat these laws and commands early and often. Make sure your children hear them. Make sure you explain the commands to the children. Wear these commands on your sleeves – so to speak. Tie them as a string around your finger or a headband around your forehead. Engrave them on your doorposts and your gates.
Repetition is a part of remembering and a part of loving.
When your children ask you why, explain to them your past history with the Lord. Read further from Deuteronomy chapter six:
"In the future your children will ask you, 'What is the meaning of these stipulations, laws, and regulations that the Lord our God has given us?' Then you must tell them, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with amazing power. Before our eyes the Lord did miraculous signs and wonders, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had solemnly promised to give our ancestors. And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these laws and to fear him for our own prosperity and well-being, as is now the case. For we are righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.' (Verses 20-25)
Recite the past history of Israel. Add your own faith stories. Anticipate with your children the new faith stories to come.
Living with the Lord is the only true living! Living with the Lord as our guide is a guarantee of love over Law. Jesus makes this point to the religious leaders of his day – who were too didactic with their observance of the Sabbath. Read from Luke chapter thirteen:
One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are healed of your sickness!" Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God!
But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. "There are six days of the week for working," he said to the crowd. "Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath."
But the Lord replied, "You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water? Wasn't it necessary for me, even on the Sabbath day, to free this dear woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?" This shamed his enemies. And all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. (Verses 10-17)
The Sabbath is to serve us in our relationship with the Lord. If man-made rules get in the way, they must be jettisoned. If the need to stay ahead of our neighbors, then we must lay this perceived need down to rightly observe the Sabbath.
There needs to be a balance based upon relationship with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters. If we stray one way of the other too much, we upset the balance God is calling us to have in our lives. Indeed, Sabbath is a way of living.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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