Knowing And Teaching His Commandments For The Sake of Our Loved Ones

From: August 9 – 15, 2011

TOPIC: “Knowing And Teaching His Commandments For The Sake of Our Loved Ones” - Deuteronomy 6: 1 - 9 Mathew 28:20 says, “…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” We should all know well the Lord’s commandments, His commands and to do what is instructed. We should know the Lord’s commandments and perform the deeds. Many know what to do but only a few proceed to do it. It is not the same to know and DO then to know and NOT DO! In order to comply with the Lord’s commandments we must love Him and desire to be close to Him. How united should the people of God be to the Lord whom we serve! How attached must we be to Him! In those beginnings God wanted the people of Israel to live in purity and in righteousness. The Lord wanted Israel to be an obedient town so that they could enjoy the fullness of life with God. But, for that we need to live separated from this world of sin living, not for our evil desires, but for our Lord. They lived in Canaan, a land full of idolatry and evil people, but they had many blessings and promises from God. You and I also live in this century also surrounded by people who live far from God, but thankful that God also called us and has revealed His son Jesus Christ to us giving us a new life, a gifted life with so much love and well-being. That is why Jesus explained very clearly and also by the mouth of the apostles how we must live. So, dear beloved, the more we know the Lord’s commandments the better we will be able to conduct ourselves and live our lives to the fullest. Moses gave the Israelite people practical instructions for living, to live the way God intended; they should be witnesses to the world of the great truth: that Jehovah is the only true God. They should love Him above all things and keep His word. They should teach these things to their children with diligence. Our faith in God is the most important thing; the faith is followed by the obedience we owe to Him. We should learn that Jehovah is our God, this way we will grow in fear towards Him. It is the same God of Israel whom we love and serve. Why do we say that we love Him and then serve our flesh? This annuls saying that we love Him. This is not the way to love. When we are faithful to the Lord we are always protected and cared by him. If we acknowledge this there won’t be idolatry of any kind in our lives. If you had the Lord as your only God, would you be capable of loving Him above all? You would not be in any way attached to the idolatry of this world. We should serve the only Almighty God; we must not love anyone else like God. Be careful with what we love as if it was God, material things are loved greatly; hatred is preferred before loving, that one adheres to the whims, etc. Take out of your heart whatever wants to be first in your life before God. What is expected from us to reach our promised land, which is Heaven, is to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our strength. No king asks from his dependents to love, only our God. Other religions demand love to their gods but they fall short when it comes to loving even their fellow men. Our first commandment is to love and everything else is also based on love. And so are all our duties, they can be fulfilled through love. But, we show how much we love God when we are capable of guarding and complying with His words. We cannot love what is around us more than the God who chose us. If you have duties with God, pass them on to your children so they will learn from you and live it. How do you educate in your home? As you teach your loved ones about the love you profess to the Lord in the same way you will be able to conserve and see in your home this same love that must be given to God. Careful! That love grows cold and the word of God withers when we do not teach it at home. Meditating on the word is very important. God said it in Deuteronomy 6:6 "And these words which I command you today will be upon your heart ..." You have to live in the word. We must teach our children holy things. We must not leave this only to the bible school teacher; it is us with our life and devotion to God. Repeat to your loved ones what you learn from the word. That they may hear from your mouth the holy things, not big fights at home, but may they hear the word of God! By repeating and repeating the word they will grow in knowledge of the word. How many opportunities we have to teach and not let society and phonies teach the opposite of our faith! We must prevent them from stealing the faith of our loved ones to not obey God. The more familiar we become with the word the more we will love it, admire it and we will be nourished by it. Then we will be willing to communicate it to others, beginning with our families. We must always have present God's teachings. The more we have and take advantage of the teachings of the Lord will keep others from deceiving us or drawing us away from the truth. The Israelites took literally the following verse: Deuteronomy 6:8 "And (these words) you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes,” Tied to their head and hands were small boxes that contained rolls of paper with verses from the Holy Scriptures. These boxes still exist among the Jews and they are called phylacteries. They tied the word to their bodies physically, but if you in your home stopped for a moment from your daily duties and sought in the Bible, for example: Our Father and likewise other biblical passages and read them with your loved ones, you would see His promises and you would fill your life and the lives of your loved ones. God wanted men's lives to be controlled by the law so that nothing would separate them from Him and they would always have His favors. What the Jews had tied to their hands and between their eyes was the law. Between the eyes is the center of our forehead, the Lord was referring to the mind so that man’s head would be controlled by the law. The hands would also have the word tied to them so that they would be swift towards purity and good, not touching or doing filthiness, or dishonest or perverse things. Also, the word between the eyes would avoid looking with evil thoughts, to not be impudent but controlled by the commandments of God, so that there would be purity and the love would keep them from doing dishonest things. God did all these graphic things with His people the Israelites, His chosen people, to educate them and lead them to good and righteousness. The Lord was preparing a nation for good deeds, a worthy and eloquent nation in conduct, in righteousness and purity. Today God does the same with us, we are His people and He teaches us every day in righteousness and holiness in order for us to be light in the darkness, the salt of the earth; His unique and chosen nation for His glory. Amen.