Through the Bible - Isaiah 54-55, 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Good morning,
The men's small group that I'm in is going through the booke "The Jesus Creed" by Scot McKnight. The creed is a blending of the shema of the Old Testament with the "Greatest Commandment" in the New Testament (Matt. 22:37-39), basically to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.
Today's verse will come from the shema of the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 6, we'll look at verses 8 & 9.
Deut 6:8 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. NKJV
The verses show the importance of knowing God's Word in order to live according to it.
These verses tell us to "bind them on our fingers, and wear them on our foreheads". Many of the Jews took this literally as John MacArthur describes. "The Israelite was to continually meditate upon and be directed by the commandments that God had given to him. Later in Jewish history, this phrase was taken literally and the people tied phylacteries (boxes containing these verses) to their hands and foreheads with thongs of leather." Some of these I'm sure were "designer" quality, so that people would take notice. It's probably a good thing that they didn't have LED buttons back then.
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But before we become too judgemental, what about today's society, what about ourselves? Think of bumper stickers and things that adorn our desks and homes.
God's Word is to be at the forefront of our minds, our thoughts, which should lead to actions. Actions of love, compassion, and mercy.
Scott McKnight noted in his book that Mother Teresa said, "Do ordinary things with extraordinary love, little things like caring for the sick and homeless, the lonely and unwanted, washing and cleaning them."
But this is not to be done in a prideful way, more like Jesus spoke of in Matthew 6:
Matt 6: 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. NKJV
How will you "wear" His commands today?
In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
Deut 6:1-10
The Greatest Commandment
6 "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you — 'a land flowing with milk and honey.'
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.
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