Deuteronomy 11:20&21 "20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." God’s Word is living and active; it both invites and provokes us. In the verses just before these, God commands His people to take His words to heart and soul, to bind them as a sign, and to speak them in the ordinary course of life. His teaching is not a single lesson but a practiced habit, passed from one generation to the next, so that His people will love and obey Him always. In today’s verses He commands Israel to write those words on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates. The law is to be a constant, visible reminder of the covenant and a public confession of faith. Divine instruction is meant to mark private rooms and public thresholds alike, so that God’s presence and guidance st...
Deuteronomy 11:19 "And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." We started the week with Jesus’s words about the authority of Scripture. God’s Word is living and active; it invites us and it provokes us. Yesterday we turned back to Deuteronomy, words written more than three thousand years ago, about how we should respond to God’s Word. God commands His people to internalize His words: to fix them in heart and soul, and also to wear them outwardly as a sign. God’s words are not meant to remain mere intellectual assent. They are to fill the inner person; affections, mind, and motives. Binding them on the hand pictures deeds; binding them on the forehead pictures thought, worldview, and public identity. Today’s verse calls for a lifestyle of constant, conversational faith: not a single lesson, but an ongoing, natural practice of speaking God’s truth into...