Things I must tell the children
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Deuteronomy 6:5
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
(NIV)
God’s Top Ten
(The Ten Commandments)
I. NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME
II. NO IDOLS
III. DON’T TAKE THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN
IV. KEEP THE SABBATH HOLY
V. HONOR YOUR PARENTS
VI. NO MURDERING
VII. NO ADULTERY
VIII. NO STEALING
IX. NO FALSE WITNESS
X. NO COVETING
(Exodus 20:3-17 & Deuteronomy 5:7-21)
Jesus said that the greatest commandment was that we should love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind (or understanding)!
Matthew 22:37
37 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
(NIV)
Loving God with all your mind means that you have given careful thought and consideration to what you have been told. Because you understand the goodness of loving God, now you give your mind to it. Like a cow chewing its cud, you have gone over it and over it, discovering its goodness.
Psalm 34:8
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
(NIV)
It is our job as parents to teach our children by our own example that the Lord is good! If you will live like the Lord is good before your children, they will be better prepared to accept what you have to say!
Parents are not only the first teachers.
Parents must be the foremost teachers!
Our kids are wet cement!
When cement is still wet, it will take the form of the form into which it is poured. Once it dries and becomes hard, it can take a jack hammer to break it up and all you will have left is broken pieces. It will never be the same again!
Our children are wet cement! However they are molded when they are small, that is the pattern they will follow. That’s why it is imperative that parents become the foremost teacher. Once those children have settled their hearts, their souls, and their minds, changing that preset is MAJOR DESTRUCTION!!!!
And who will be there to pick up the fractured pieces of our kids?
One parent said the other night: “I want my children to know that I love them no matter what! And I will always love them no matter what!” While that is probably the sentiment and desire of every parent present today, it is far better to provide proper instruction while they are young than to try to rescue the prodigal!
Deuteronomy 6:1-5
1 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, O 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 fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
(NIV)
How do we teach our children to love the Lord
with all their heart,
with all their soul,
and with all their mind?
Use the three “R’s”!
1. Reverence.
2. Righteousness.
3. Remembrance.
Deuteronomy 6:2
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.
(NIV)
Not on stone, but…
Deuteronomy 6:6
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
(NIV)
Practical patterns for teaching our children
the things we must tell them:
1. Help them hear
Deuteronomy 6:3
3 Hear, O Israel, …
(NIV)
2. Help them obey
Deuteronomy 6:3
3 …and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you
(NIV)
3. Impress
Deuteronomy 6:7
7 Impress them on your children.
(NIV)
4. Talk
Deuteronomy 6:7
7 …Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
(NIV)
5. Tie
Deuteronomy 6:8
8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
(NIV)
6. Write
Deuteronomy 6:9
9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
(NIV)
A Covenant with God and My Children!
a paraphrase of Psalm 78:4-7
“We will not hide these truths from our children
but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD.
We will tell of His power and the mighty miracles He did.
For He issued His decree to Jacob; He gave His law to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
that they in turn might teach their children.
So each generation can set its hope anew on God,
remembering His glorious miracles and obeying His commands.”
(New Living Translation)
