Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (ESV) 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.
It is very easy to have a limited interpretion of God's word. In fact, when you think of it, I suppose every interpretation is limited. I wonder if we could handle the full meaning of any verse at one time. It speaks to us again and again, never contradicting itself, but continually fulfilling its meaning as we grow in our relationship with our Lord.
Thus is the case with the above verses from Deuteronomy. I had always considered the "talking" of God's commands to be to your children. I didn't consider that it meant to talk of them to everyone as we have the opportunity. Yet, in fact, this is exactly what I do with my blog and I am seeing the fruit of this talking.
These commands of God have been impressed upon our hearts. They are not merely superficial bits of information which we use for our own good. They are meant for our whole society. It is through God's commands that people hear that they must "repent and be baptized" and "love one another." It is through God's commands that we know we must forgive and live holy lives. These commands are sharper than any two-edged sword which cuts deeply down to the soul of the individual and brings about conviction, repentance and restoration. They heal the broken hearted and bring joy in dire circumstances.
Who needs to hear them? All who will listen. They cannot be forced on others but they can be brought into our conversations because we seek good for our fellow beings.
But these fellow beings are only part of those who need to hear God's word. We need to hear them from our own mouths. They are impressed deeper upon our own hearts when we share them with others. They become part of who we are and have a more profound affect upon us than those who hear us say them.
Each week I preach and hope that some people fully grasp what God has taught me. But I also preach because it makes me get even more than I would if I were simply a listener. Those who grasp God's word share it with others and get more from the sharing than those who hear them say it.
And God, through the Holy Spirit, increases the application of His word so that those who hear it get more than what has been said audibly. They take this revelation of God and give it to others so that they receive even more than they would have. It becomes so much a part of them as they share it that they cannot refuse its meaning. It becomes a part of them.
There is one other person who must hear us speak God's word. It is God. He delights in hearing us say His commands with the full intention of following them. He seeks those whose heart is completely His. (2 Chronicles 16:9) He wants to throw His full support behind us.
So, go out and speak God's commands as often as you have the opportunity. It will impress those commands deeply upon your heart. And you will grow in Him like never before.
1 comment:
Ps Prentis, I cannot agree you with more.
"But these fellow beings {your audience} are only part of those who need to hear God's word. We need to hear them from our own mouths. They are impressed deeper upon our own hearts when we share them with others. They become part of who we are and have a more profound affect upon us than those who hear us say them." Very true, indeed.
"And God, through the Holy Spirit, increases the application of His word so that those who hear it get more than what has been said audibly. They take this revelation of God and give it to others so that they receive even more than they would have. It becomes so much a part of them as they share it that they cannot refuse its meaning. It becomes a part of them." Also, how very true.
"There is one other person who must hear us speak God's word. It is God." There is a teaching going round, and is also creeping into the church in shades, and it speaks about positive confession. While generally speaking, it is a positive thing to do, one has to be careful when the positive confession is adopted to the extent that it merges into the teaching of "The Secret". The latter is a secular teaching on positive confession with the core understanding lying in that it is the cosmos that would hear you and align everything to give you what you want. God is absence in there, or if there is a God, cosmos is the god. Extreme proponents of this secular teaching preach that you can get whatever you want; all you have to do is keeping confessing the thing you want, and everything will be aligned up by cosmos to give you what you want. I just want to point out the subtility for believers to be careful. It is along the line that it is definitely good for us to exercise, but we must be careful NOT to embrace the deeper things of such forms of exercises as Tai Chi, yoga, just to name a few. As Christians, we must know, in what our positive confessions are rooted; it is in the Almighty God who Himself alone decides if He would align anything or everything when we confess. Ps Prentis was of course, right to say that when we speak of God's commands, God is glad to hear them, for such would be in alignment to His will and purposes, and so, He would render His assistance to us; in other words, He would extend His grace to us.
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