DILIGENTLY !
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou rises up” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
We know this Scripture back to front, don't we? But are we actually doing it? Last week we found that God wants His words to be in our mouth and in the mouths of our children. How will that happen? By our diligently teaching them.
The word "diligently" in the Hebrew is shanan and means "to pierce through, to sharpen, to whet, to engrave, to enforce, to inculcate, and to teach incisively." This is far more than passive reading, isn't it?
When we had Family Devotions together this morning, my husband not only read the Word to us, but pierced into our lives. As he read from The Daily Light on the Daily Path, which is compilation of Scriptures on a certain theme, he asked questions. He asked if we could remember the rest of the Scripture he was reading. Some Scriptures were very powerful and we repeated them out loud together.
Let's look at some other translations of this Scripture which help us to really get the message.
Amplified Bible, "You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the minds and hearts of your children."
Century English Version, "Memorize his laws and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning." God's words certainly have to be in our hearts in order to talk to our children about them all the time, don't they?
New Living Translation, "Repeat them again and again to your children."
The Jerusalem Bible, "You shall repeat them to your children and say them over to them..."
Message Bible, "Get them inside of you and the get them inside your children." I like that, don't you?
Modern Language, "You shall impress them deeply upon your children."
Have you got it? Now, dear sweet mother, what are you going to do about it? We can't be passive about it, can we? We must be faithful to not only read the word to our children but to what? Engrave, teach incisively, impress them deeply, impress them diligently, pierce through, sharpen, whet, enforce, inculcate, repeat them again and again, and get them inside your children. Am I like a broken record? Perhaps we need it until this really becomes our lifestyle.
May we become mothers whose mouths are filled with God's Word who are training children whose mouths are filled with God's Word.
Love from Nancy Campbell
PRAYER:
“Oh Father, please save me from "mouthing off" to my children, but instead having my mouth filled with your Word. Amen."
AFFIRMATION:
I am training children to overcome by "the word of their testimony"!