Teaching Notes

Are you willing to walk with him? Do you stand on the shoreline thinking about what is before you? Are you afraid to "step out into the deep?" Do you think this way might just be too difficult or are you willing to live his way? It is not in your strength, but in his. Let him direct you.

His Way

Deuteronomy 11:21-25 (The Message)

18-21 Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you'll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth.

22-25 That's right. If you diligently keep all this commandment that I command you to obey—love God, your God, do what he tells you, stick close to him—God on his part will drive out all these nations that stand in your way. Yes, he'll drive out nations much bigger and stronger than you. Every square inch on which you place your foot will be yours. Your borders will stretch from the wilderness to the mountains of Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. No one will be able to stand in your way. Everywhere you go, God-sent fear and trembling will precede you, just as he promised.

Notes: Yesterday, we talked about placing the word upon your heart. Today we will look at "get them deep. Tie them on your hands and forehead as a reminder. And teach them to your children." These instructions are a more detailed explanation of placing the word upon your heart. If you put the word in your heart, you have to allow it to get deep into you and become important to you.

Question: What does it mean to tie them on your hands and forehead as a reminder?

Answer: Image if you actually wrote the word down on paper and tied it to your hand and placed it on your forehead, would you remember the words were there? Yes you would because everytime you reached to do something, your hand would have scripture written on it. Image a thief reaching to steal and looking at his hand and there is written, "Thou shalt not steal". Image someone thinking about committing some sin and as they sit in thought they touch their forehead and there is written the words "flee from the very presence of evil". God may not require you to write the word physically on a piece of paper and place it on your hand and forehead, but if you have placed the word in your heart the Spirit of God will bring to you those words you allowed to be written to convict you of what is right.

Parents are required to teach this to their children. That is both physical parents as well as spiritual parents. You may have someone that walks with you that tells you the truth of God's word. This is the reason why they do it, because God wants you to be equipped to be successful in this life. He wants you to have what will keep you in his way and in his will. God also tells us to teach our children so that his word can be passed from one generation to the next.

Prayer: Lord today we say thank you for giving us the word to keep us faithful to your ways. It will help us remember what is required of us. Help us to follow you, to get it deep inside so that we can be successful in our Christian walk with you.