Thursday: Lest Ye Forget
Before the children of Israel were to enter into the Promised Land, Moses spoke to them again, recounting the wonderful ways that the Lord had led them, and he admonished them again and again not to forget what the Lord had done for them. In many ways Deuteronomy was Moses’ last will and testament. And though written thousands of years ago, in a culture and life situation radically different from anything we face today, the principles there apply to us, as well.
Read Deut. 6:1-25, NKJV. What can we learn from this chapter about the principles of Christian education? What should be central to all that we teach, not just to our children but to anyone who doesn’t know what we know about God and His great acts of salvation? What warnings are found in these verses, as well?
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
So central to all that they were to teach their children was the marvelous working of God among them. And also, how clearly was the warning given not to forget all that God had done for them, either.
Of course, if parents are to play the first major role in integrating biblical teachings into their children’s lives, then they have a responsibility to organize and prepare their own lives in such a manner that they have adequate knowledge and time to spend with their children.
“The child’s first teacher is the mother. During the period of greatest susceptibility and most rapid development his education is to a great degree in her hands.” — Ellen G. White, Education, p. 275.
This is the essential time when parents minister to their children about the love and promises of God. Designating a regularly scheduled time to teach the wisdom and promises of God personally to your children will positively impact your family for generations to come.
| Read this text: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:7, NKJV). What is the point here, and what should it tell us about how crucial it is always to keep the reality of the Lord before not just our children but our own selves, as well? |
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In the context of family, what are the important things that contribute to spiritual growth. While most of us will cite things like regular family worship as extremely important, that by itself is not the whole story. For me, growing up, the essential ingredient was that spirituality was not treated as a separate entity, but something that was part of everything we did. It did not hang over our heads like a heavy oppressive weight but powered our interaction with others and guided the development of our world view. Now I am not going to pretend that I agreed with my parents all the time. I had my usual teenage power pushes like everyone else but looking back from the perspective of old age I can appreciate the integration and development of spiritual values that my parents gave to us as children.
For example, my father taught me to love nature, not just the “pretty flowers” and “green countryside” approach. He taught me to study and observe and to write documentation for it. Our JMV nature honour classes were not just something you did in an afternoon to answer a couple of questions to get a badge. They took several weeks to collect the data and make up a notebook, complete with illustrations. Such activities were always done as an appreciation of the creator God.
We were always encouraged to read, not just religious books, but books about people and ideas. Significantly, both Dad and Mum enjoyed reading and would read our books too.
Moses wrote:
In today’s terms he is saying that our spirituality must be integrated into our living.
And it shall be our righteousness. if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.
Deuter 6:25
Lest Ye Forget
Jesus knew men continually forgets things that were/are important. For example-men forgot to give gratitude where it should be given, forgets when and how to observe the Sabbath, forgets what was written in the law etc. There are approx 17 passages in the bible with 'remember to do something' or 'dont forget'. As a result, Jesus kept repeating the same words over and over again so we can remember. In Deutro 6:1-10 the Lord told Moses over and over again what to do so the children will remember the Lord.
Solution for us not to forget- we need to teach, read, explain, play biblical games, have devotion with our children while they are under our roof.
What I have done- I spoke about the 5 year child who was from a Muslim family who never heard the words Jesus mentioned in her home. Today I was speaking to the family member and that child now talks about Jesus more than ever. Was told if she was about to fall and she did not, she would thank Jesus for helping her. If she falls, she would blame Jesus. The adult now has a responsibility to correct her so she will know it was not Jesus who made her fell. The child told me that the adult favorite word is 'Jesus Christ'.
When my children were young and at home, when they refused to eat what I prepared, I would put them to sit and go over as in the bible. My childhood and how we lived in poverty. What we did not eat because we didn't had any money and had no other choice to choose. I pointed them to other children who was glad to have what they had. I did this several times, after a while they would say not again mummy. Not to hear the same thing over and over again, they would listen to me and ate what was prepared.
Regardless if the children want to hear it or not, it is the parent responsible to teach the children lest they forget.
Lyn, I am not sure just what you are trying to say in your paragraph about the Muslim child, but just to set the record straight: Muslims do not worship Jesus nor do they consider him divine. However, they call him the Messiah and consider him as a prophet. Like Mohammed, his mission was to call people back to the faith of Abraham. They, of course, do not believe in salvation through Christ in the same sense as Christians. The Quran mentions Jesus a number of times as a prophet and messenger of God.
When I was doing my research work at the University of Sydney I had an Iranian Muslim colleague and he often sent me messages about Jesus for birthdays and Christmas. While Muslim theology is quite different, the real issue for many spiritual Muslims is that many Christians simply ignore the teachings of Jesus.
For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?....and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; especially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb......and that they may teach their children.
Deuter 4:7-10
Lest ye Forget
Maurice- when the Lord spoke to Moses, who was Moses supposed to teach, the children or the adult? Weren't all adults supposed to teach their children, grands and all down through generations lest they forgot what God had done for them as adults. Ex 20: 5-6. When we love the Lord and tell those under our roof what the word says, the Lord is pleased. We refused, his wrath follows us and our disobedient children.
All I was saying- the child is 5 yrs old whose parents are Muslim. Jesus and praying to Jesus, his power to save, he hears us when we call on him, he is a provider, protector, etc is never spoken in there home. Now the child is in a christian home and Jesus is taught, devotion is being done etc, the child is very interesting and even if/when the child returns home, Jesus will still be in her mind/memories.
God has given us everything that we've got till now. Life itself is the marvelous miracle we should start thanking Him, especially for the life of His Son Jesus. Doing the best we can with our time is one of the ways of being greatfull!
As I see it, there is in all of Scripture God gave us no greater Truth, no greater, more all-inclusive, more effectual, more promising directive than: “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” - Deut.6:5.
John14:23 - If we, motivated by so loving our LORD focus our living, God will be able to reach into the depth of our heart, mind and soul and make them His home.
Heb.13:5 – Having received Him into our heart as our sovereign provider of wisdom, motivation, and directed action, we trust that He will never leave us or forsake us; we are now able to walk by the Faith He provided for us. This Faith is the only conduit through which we can spiritually communicate with our LORD.
I think that too many Christians in the westernized world have taken the Trinity God of Creation and placed Him right alongside Yahoo, Google, and all the other online information-providers available to man in our day and time. It appears that the Creator God has lost His sacred status as a heavenly Deity in our eyes; we are no longer 'afraid' of the consequences when following our own way.
‘Lest we forget’ – it was THEM who formed the physical universe and all the powers to hold it together in perfect harmony, the environment for living things to dwell in, gave us the Breath of Life and sustains the Creation by the infinite Law of Love and righteousness.
Rom.10:1-5 –(4)”For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” The 'end' meaning, He is the fulfillment of this law. We are the spiritual Children of Israel, our Savior is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God who came to lead us into all Truth and to establish the believer in his/her Walk by Faith.
Nothing of God's Truth has changed since the days of old; it is still the same admonition our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is giving us:
Matt.22:36-40 “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
By continously keeping the first commandment we are able to keep the second, and by keeping the second we continously confirm the first.
We do well to ask ourselves; ‘WHY does this commandment stand as the first of the 10 Commandments of God’? It tells us: “You shall have no other gods BEFORE(higher in authority than) me.” With this one directive, God informs the believer who choses to follow His command that he is placing himself under HIS AUTHORITY.
We *have to learn and understand* to look at the *SPIRITUAL EFFECT* and not the 'LEGAL' aspect the obedience to the first commandment/directive has on the faithful versus the unfaithful.
For the 'loving-God-with-all-his-heart-faithful', the effect/consequence imparts the full, spiritual-life-giving and life sustaining power of the Creator. For the half-hearted, doubting, lukewarm, fence-sitting, unfaithful it manifests the effect/consequence of this, in the spirit-realm established, LAW by manifesting its negative effects on the soul's spiritual wellbeing.