Wednesday, May 9, 2018
“So commit
yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your
forehead as reminders. Teach them to
your children. Talk about them when you
are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when
you are getting up. Write them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains
above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore
to give your ancestors. Deuteronomy 11:18-21(NLT)
Even today you
will see, particularly in urban centers, Jews who take this admonition
literally. Portions of Holy Scripture
are worn on the wrist, and/or suspended from a headband just above the eyes. Most Jewish households will have Mezzuzahs on their doorposts. The message, literally
or figuratively is unmistakeable – God’s Word is so important it ought to be central
in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ.
The sermon
illustration is old enough to have gray hair, about the preacher who visits a
church family. On the coffee table is a
Bible with an inch-thick coating of dust.
But there is a cross dangling from the Mom’s neck. There are evidences everywhere that say: we are a Christian family. During the course of the visit the preacher mentions
a particular verse, and the Dad says he doesn’t recall that one and wants to
remember it, so he tells their 9 year old son to go get his Bible; in a moment
the kid returns with a well-used copy of Reader’s Digest.
I have often been
figuratively patted on the back by church members for preaching the word. I’m always pleased to get this feedback, that
I’m not holding-back God’s Truth from God’s people. However, most people I know do not carry a
Bible to church; I often wonder how good their minds must be to have committed
all 66 books of Holy Scripture to memory.
There are many
places in Scripture where believers are cautioned to commit the truth of God’s
Word to heart and mind. One verse that
stands out in that list also tells you WHY you do this:
I have hidden your word in my heart, that
I might not sin against you. Psalm
119:11(NLT)
For You Today
God’s Word has
been the world’s best-selling book ever since the first one hit Gutenberg’s printing
press centuries ago. Today we can find
Scripture in a paper book, Kindle electronic version, and websites galore.
But if the
Scritpures in wristbands, frontlets worn on the forehead, Mezzuzahs tacked to
the doorposts, or entire Bible carried to church are doing their job, it is not
to annouce to the world that we have faith, they are more to remind us, like
Scriptural Sticky Notes, that our faith is to lead us into every arena of
life.
We are to
remember, and live-into the kind of life we read about in God’s book.
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