Hear the word of the Lord:
Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"
Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other'; and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,' --this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Showing posts with label hear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hear. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Hear, O Israel ...
Hear the word of the Lord:
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Now this is the commandment--the statutes and the ordinances--that the LORD your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children's children, may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Now this is the commandment--the statutes and the ordinances--that the LORD your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children's children, may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Friday, September 4, 2009
A change of pace ...
Today at the team meeting, we decided to temporarily change the format of the daily devotionals over the next nine weeks as we enter into a communal discernment process to redefine the nature of our ministry to the children here at Westview. Four to five days of the week we will consider various lectionary readings, and meditate upon them (lectio divina) as our daily devotion. One or two days of the week, we will include a devotional thought. The plan is for the devotionals to resume their more normal form later this fall as we complete our project.
For those of you who need something a little more directed, you can go to the devotional blog at: www.wbhdevos.blogspot.com and either look through the chronological listing for a devotional, or you may enter a subject to search for in the blog by typing in the little white window in the blue stripe across the top of the blog. Since there are now over 365 devotionals posted on this site, we hope that you can find something there that builds you up, challenges you, or comforts you.
Hear the word of the Lord:
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act — they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 1:17-27 – NRSV
For those of you who need something a little more directed, you can go to the devotional blog at: www.wbhdevos.blogspot.com and either look through the chronological listing for a devotional, or you may enter a subject to search for in the blog by typing in the little white window in the blue stripe across the top of the blog. Since there are now over 365 devotionals posted on this site, we hope that you can find something there that builds you up, challenges you, or comforts you.
Hear the word of the Lord:
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act — they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 1:17-27 – NRSV
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Immediately aware ...
We struggle with having enough time:
to see all of the people,
to be all of the places,
to do all of the things
that we need to do, much less
the things that we want to do.
Jesus, being human, felt this, too.
Yet he is in each moment, eye-to-eye
with us, not distracted by things, but
paying deep attention to, and loving,
the people around him.
Listen for this in the gospel:
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and,
when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly,
"My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her,
so that she may be made well, and live."
So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman who had been suffering
from hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had endured much under many physicians,
and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus,
and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."
Immediately her hemorrhage stopped;
and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"
And his disciples said to him,
"You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say,
'Who touched me?'"
He looked all around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her,
came in fear and trembling, fell down before him,
and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
While he was still speaking,
some people came from the leader's house to say,
"Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?"
But overhearing what they said,
Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue,
"Do not fear, only believe."
He allowed no one to follow him
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue,
he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
When he had entered, he said to them,
"Why do you make a commotion and weep?
The child is not dead but sleeping."
And they laughed at him.
Then he put them all outside,
and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him,
and went in where the child was.
He took her by the hand and said to her,
"Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!"
And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about
(she was twelve years of age).
At this they were overcome with amazement.
He strictly ordered them that no one should know this,
and told them to give her something to eat.
Blessings,
Ron
Mark 5:21-43 – NRSV
to see all of the people,
to be all of the places,
to do all of the things
that we need to do, much less
the things that we want to do.
Jesus, being human, felt this, too.
Yet he is in each moment, eye-to-eye
with us, not distracted by things, but
paying deep attention to, and loving,
the people around him.
Listen for this in the gospel:
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and,
when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly,
"My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her,
so that she may be made well, and live."
So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman who had been suffering
from hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had endured much under many physicians,
and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus,
and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."
Immediately her hemorrhage stopped;
and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"
And his disciples said to him,
"You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say,
'Who touched me?'"
He looked all around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her,
came in fear and trembling, fell down before him,
and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
While he was still speaking,
some people came from the leader's house to say,
"Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?"
But overhearing what they said,
Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue,
"Do not fear, only believe."
He allowed no one to follow him
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue,
he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
When he had entered, he said to them,
"Why do you make a commotion and weep?
The child is not dead but sleeping."
And they laughed at him.
Then he put them all outside,
and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him,
and went in where the child was.
He took her by the hand and said to her,
"Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!"
And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about
(she was twelve years of age).
At this they were overcome with amazement.
He strictly ordered them that no one should know this,
and told them to give her something to eat.
Blessings,
Ron
Mark 5:21-43 – NRSV
Saturday, May 2, 2009
When you hear ...
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?"
The Lord said to David, "Go up; for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand."
So David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. He said, "The Lord has burst forth against my enemies before me, like a bursting flood." Therefore that place is called Baal-perazim. The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
Once again the Philistines came up, and were spread out in the valley of Rephaim. When David inquired of the Lord, he said, "You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then be on the alert; for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines."
David did just as the Lord had commanded him; and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer.
2 Samuel 5:17-25 – NRSV
When good things come into our lives, there are some things that we should expect. The first expectation is that we will be tempted to believe that the blessings we received were only for our benefit. This is the temptation that David resisted successfully after being anointed by the Israelites (see yesterday’s devotional).
If we resist being our own worst enemies, then we can count on resistance from outsiders. For David, success attracts enemies. Surprise, surprise, here come the Philistines. Remember the kings whom David treated like his friends just a little while back? Now they’ve figured out that David took them for a bunch of fools. They are not happy about this. Now the Philistines believe that whatever they did to Saul, they can do to David. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t ask God whether they could or couldn't. They can’t.
David, on the other hand, is successful and yet still in conversation with God. David doesn’t just pray in emergencies; he maintains an ongoing dialogue with God, especially about matters of leadership. David doesn’t make a decision on his own authority; he gathers a community of informed judgment that includes God, and then acts on the word of God. God brings the first victory, and David glorifies him for it.
Defeated once, the Philistines return to repeat their assault on David. Again, David resists the impulse to make assumptions based on past decisions, or to operate on his own authority. He consults God, who gives him advice which he would not have anticipated on his own. Attack from the rear? Who would have guessed? As David follows God's instructions, God is already moving out in front, dealing with the enemies of the Israelites before God’s people are in the position to strike a single blow. David’s army cleans up the remnant of the enemy as they catch up with the Philistines.
Like David, we need to be in constant conversation with God. If we glorify God for our successes, then we avoid so many pitfalls. If we keep talking with God even when the blessings are there, they will seem to keep on coming to us again and again. If we listen to God as much as we talk to God, then we have the opportunity to behave wisely and lead wisely.
May God help us to keep our conversation with him constant and transparent.
Blessings,
Ron
The Lord said to David, "Go up; for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand."
So David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. He said, "The Lord has burst forth against my enemies before me, like a bursting flood." Therefore that place is called Baal-perazim. The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
Once again the Philistines came up, and were spread out in the valley of Rephaim. When David inquired of the Lord, he said, "You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then be on the alert; for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines."
David did just as the Lord had commanded him; and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer.
2 Samuel 5:17-25 – NRSV
When good things come into our lives, there are some things that we should expect. The first expectation is that we will be tempted to believe that the blessings we received were only for our benefit. This is the temptation that David resisted successfully after being anointed by the Israelites (see yesterday’s devotional).
If we resist being our own worst enemies, then we can count on resistance from outsiders. For David, success attracts enemies. Surprise, surprise, here come the Philistines. Remember the kings whom David treated like his friends just a little while back? Now they’ve figured out that David took them for a bunch of fools. They are not happy about this. Now the Philistines believe that whatever they did to Saul, they can do to David. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t ask God whether they could or couldn't. They can’t.
David, on the other hand, is successful and yet still in conversation with God. David doesn’t just pray in emergencies; he maintains an ongoing dialogue with God, especially about matters of leadership. David doesn’t make a decision on his own authority; he gathers a community of informed judgment that includes God, and then acts on the word of God. God brings the first victory, and David glorifies him for it.
Defeated once, the Philistines return to repeat their assault on David. Again, David resists the impulse to make assumptions based on past decisions, or to operate on his own authority. He consults God, who gives him advice which he would not have anticipated on his own. Attack from the rear? Who would have guessed? As David follows God's instructions, God is already moving out in front, dealing with the enemies of the Israelites before God’s people are in the position to strike a single blow. David’s army cleans up the remnant of the enemy as they catch up with the Philistines.
Like David, we need to be in constant conversation with God. If we glorify God for our successes, then we avoid so many pitfalls. If we keep talking with God even when the blessings are there, they will seem to keep on coming to us again and again. If we listen to God as much as we talk to God, then we have the opportunity to behave wisely and lead wisely.
May God help us to keep our conversation with him constant and transparent.
Blessings,
Ron
Friday, March 6, 2009
What are you listening to?
Yesterday, Joshlynn went around the house singing a song. If you are a parent you have heard this song. “We’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, zooming through the sky, Little Einsteins…” It is the theme song to Little Einsteins, a children’s cartoon on the Disney channel. It was so cute. She was singing the words as well as a 2 year old can, and what great tone and pitch. The problem was, she sang it over and over and over and over and over! She was playing on her scooter and singing it, she was pushing her baby dolls and singing it, she was “reading” a book and singing it. She had repeated this song so much, she knew it by heart. Could you imagine what might happen if she watched some of the other cartoons that are a little more teenage appropriate, or even older? What if she was sitting in there and liked the beat of a song on the radio? Do you think that she could remember the songs? The more we as humans repeat things and watch the same things over and over again, the better we remember them.
This is why it is so important to fill their minds with Godly things and less junk. This is why it is important for parents to keep track of what goes in their children’s heads and hearts.
“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. 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 6:4-9
Why is it so important for the Israelites to impress the commands on their children, talk about them all the time, and tie them on doors and foreheads? The more something is repeated and taught to a child and an adult, the better they remember. I mentioned some about this in yesterday’s devotional. We were created to know and worship our God with an all-consuming passion. Are we living that way? Are his commandments repeated in our hearts to the point where we can’t help but live for him daily?
What are you repeating in your life? What are you watching? What are you listening to? What are you doing so much that you could repeat that event or song or line from a movie? It is a sad day when we know more lines from movies than we know scripture. I know I do not want that to be said about my family.
Again, what is overflowing from our lives?
Jason
This is why it is so important to fill their minds with Godly things and less junk. This is why it is important for parents to keep track of what goes in their children’s heads and hearts.
“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. 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 6:4-9
Why is it so important for the Israelites to impress the commands on their children, talk about them all the time, and tie them on doors and foreheads? The more something is repeated and taught to a child and an adult, the better they remember. I mentioned some about this in yesterday’s devotional. We were created to know and worship our God with an all-consuming passion. Are we living that way? Are his commandments repeated in our hearts to the point where we can’t help but live for him daily?
What are you repeating in your life? What are you watching? What are you listening to? What are you doing so much that you could repeat that event or song or line from a movie? It is a sad day when we know more lines from movies than we know scripture. I know I do not want that to be said about my family.
Again, what is overflowing from our lives?
Jason
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Voice: the word spoken and recognizable
Voice is the word that scripture and prayer illuminate for us today:
Hear the voice of Jesus:
Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers . . . .
Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away —
and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.
So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.
I have received this command from my Father.
John 10:1-18 NRSV
The voice we can scarcely hear
Walter Brueggemann
You are the voice we can scarcely hear
because you speak about dying and suffering,
and we are impacted by so many voices
that have to do with power
and competence
and success.
We do know that you are the voice that give life,
that you are the voice that opens futures to people who are hopeless.
We are part of a hopeless people,
because the other voices eat at our hearts
and we are immobilized
and we become deaf.
So we pray for new ears.
We pray that your voice may be more audible to us,
that we may be able to sort out the death-giving
from the life-giving voices among us.
We pray in the name of Jesus,
through whom you have spoken
in such inscrutable ways.
Amen
Blessings,
Ron
Hear the voice of Jesus:
Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers . . . .
Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away —
and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.
So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.
I have received this command from my Father.
John 10:1-18 NRSV
The voice we can scarcely hear
Walter Brueggemann
You are the voice we can scarcely hear
because you speak about dying and suffering,
and we are impacted by so many voices
that have to do with power
and competence
and success.
We do know that you are the voice that give life,
that you are the voice that opens futures to people who are hopeless.
We are part of a hopeless people,
because the other voices eat at our hearts
and we are immobilized
and we become deaf.
So we pray for new ears.
We pray that your voice may be more audible to us,
that we may be able to sort out the death-giving
from the life-giving voices among us.
We pray in the name of Jesus,
through whom you have spoken
in such inscrutable ways.
Amen
Blessings,
Ron
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Hear: our story and our children
The word for today is hear:
Now this is the commandment — the statutes and the ordinances — that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children's children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you — a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant — and when you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.
Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.
When your children ask you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?" then you shall say to your children, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right."
Deuteronomy 6 – NRSV
Blessed be the people who hear, and who can tell the story.
Ron
Now this is the commandment — the statutes and the ordinances — that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children's children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you — a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant — and when you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.
Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.
When your children ask you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?" then you shall say to your children, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right."
Deuteronomy 6 – NRSV
Blessed be the people who hear, and who can tell the story.
Ron
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