“YOU SHALL!”

Deuteronomy 6:4-9                                       (ESV)

“4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our GOD, the LORD is ONE.

5 “YOU SHALL” love the LORD your GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

6 And THESE WORDS that I command you today shall be on your heart.

7 “YOU SHALL” TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY TO YOUR CHILDREN, and SHALL TALK OF THEM when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

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.”

Seeing faults in OTHER PEOPLE seems to be a DEFAULT for humanity.  Even when Adam was being questioned by GOD about partaking of the forbidden fruit he responded “The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." (Genesis 3:12).  Admitting FAULT is something that I have never excelled at, but as I mature Spiritually, my EYES are being OPENED to SEEING that “there is NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO NOT ONE!” (Romans 3:10).  

When GOD inspired Moses to write Deuteronomy we can see a lot of similarities from the book of Exodus.   One of the biggest “omissions” that I am guilty of is ““YOU SHALL” TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY TO YOUR CHILDREN, and SHALL TALK OF THEM when you sit in your house”!  What SHALL we TEACH OUR CHILDREN DILIGENTLY?  The previous verse has the answer, THESE WORDS!  

THESE WORDS is the WORD OF GOD, speaking about them in our houses and in our daily lives.  Numerous times it is written that “YOU SHALL” to GOD’s CHOSEN PEOPLE beginning with “”YOU SHALL” love the LORD your GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”, but we seldom do as we are told!  Secondly, “YOU SHALL” TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY TO YOUR CHILDREN is not just practicing memory verses before going to Sunday School.  It SHOULD mean that we allow our children to witness the WORD being LIVED in our actions by others!  

Oh, how I can NOW SEE where I could have, should have, done a much better job of DEPENDING on the WORD OF GOD in my decision making.  Simply doing what “I think” was best has yielded me countless hardships, even rebukes!  Would that I have taken more time to LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT OF GOD and sought HIS guidance before jumping to some of the hasty decisions that I have made.  Did I forever lose the opportunity to demonstrate that THESE WORDS are REQUIRED to direct our paths in life???

The reason the WORDS “YOU SHALL” are emphasized today is so others can SEE that the option is not one to be considered for HIS CHOSEN.  THESE WORDS are essential to LIVE, not just READ, on our journey.  “YOU SHALL” do whatever you must do to TEACH your offspring while they are young.  We DO NOT get to make the rules after we experience defeat.  We have to SEE that GOD has already written rules for us, and most of them begin with “YOU SHALL”!!!