February 2, 2010

  • Impress Them

    “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:6-10

     

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    I've heard it said that the days are long and the years are short.  Looking at my oldest daughter makes that statement ring true!  Realizing just how little time I get with our children brings things quickly into perspective.  My husband and I only have a short time to teach them what we want them to know. 

     

    When we read Deuteronomy 6:6-10, we realize that devotions for ten minutes before bed time somehow isn’t going to be enough.  Deuteronomy directs us to impress these commandments upon our children.  Impress means to astonish or overwhelm. 

     

    If I am to overwhelm my children with these commandments then I must talk with them at home, when we are driving down the road, when we prepare for bed and when we rise and prepare to start our day.  I must have my bible in my hands.  I must read it to them.  Let them see me reading it.  I must use the bible in my language by making references to it throughout the day.  When I’m faced with decisions or they are faced with decisions, I must reference aloud what the Bible says in regard to that decision.  I must display God’s word in my house.  I must encourage the children to think of God’s word everyday throughout each day. 

     

    We are excited about the opportunities God lays before us.  Most of all, we are focused on overwhelming, astonishing, and impressing our children with these commandments.