Bible Text: Deuteronomy 6:18-19 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out all your enemies before you… Deuteronomy 6:18-19
A Harvard University professor, pressed to complete a writing assignment, decided to write a message on the whiteboard explaining his absence and asking the students to take notes. Placed in the center of the round table was a large tape recorder which a student was supposed to engage, playing his tape-recorded lecture. Towards the end of the hour the professor dropped by to see how it was going. To his surprise, he found the chairs pushed under the table and sitting in place of the students books were six other small tape recorders, all making a copy of his recording. All six of his students had headed for the student lounge. Remember, the old aphorism, “Monkey see; monkey do?” Why not?
In this series I’ve focused on the importance of laying a foundation in the lives of children strong enough to endure the pressures of youth and the world itself.
Everyone agrees that the foundation is important, whether it is in building high-rises made of concrete and steel or in building the lives of our children. There is a vast difference between letting your kids grow up, taking the path of least resistance, or growing kids God’s way with purpose and direction. Of the building blocks which produce solidity, none is more important than that of faith–faith in God, faith in each other, and, yes, faith or confidence that we can achieve our goals.
Long ago God stressed the importance of the parents’ modeling the message which became a visual of how we are to live, how we are to treat others, and how we relate to life itself. As God’s children were about to march into the land of promise, He instructed, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 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” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7). Not only were they to do this, they were also to write them on the doorposts of their houses as a visual reminder that God wanted parents to model the message.
How do you do this? In a certain home, the first son ran away and joined the navy. The second became a lifeguard, and the third got a job on a fishing boat. “I don’t understand why my three sons all had a fascination with the sea,” commented the mother to a friend, who responded, “Have you ever taken a look at the picture in the boys’ bedroom?” “No. Why?” “Take a look at it!”
On the wall of the bedroom where the boys slept was a gigantic seascape with a square rigged schooner, sails billowing in the breeze, salt spraying, that was cutting through the waves. Is there a relationship between what we see, what surrounds us and what we do? Absolutely!
How you spend your time—what you listen to and watch on TV, what you do on Sunday, whether you teach your children to pray and read God’s Word to them, or simply let them grow up—makes the difference.
“Dad,” asked a five-year-old as his mother prepared to take him to church, “how old will I have to be before I can stay home on Sunday morning and read the paper with you?” Uh, huh! “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD…” God told His people—a message that we still need (Deuteronomy 6:12). The admonition is still valid today.
Resource reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-19
