“Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.”
Proverbs 4:13
To Joseph, Daniel, Matthew, and Joshua,
When Dad died, as a part of my grieving process I wrote this commentary on Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4-9. Dad was not a religious man, nor did he believe in God, heaven and hell, or anything spiritual at all really. For whatever reason, his death inspired me to write this, primarily for you guys, my four sons. My hope is that God will use it to speak to you in some positive way, and to anyone else that takes the time to read it.
I want to mention three things to keep in mind as you read this. The first thing can be found in the book of Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 18:
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.“
And in Mark chapter 4 verse 9 we read:
And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
These verses illustrate how important it is for God to open our ears, eyes, mind, and heart so that His word, His truth, is not foolishness to us, but is God’s power to transform us into the new creation spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Without God’s spirit opening our eyes, ears, and heart, this commentary will likely be foolishness to you. It will likely not make sense, and certainly will not have any power to change your life or bring you closer to God. It is vital that God gives you ears to hear and eyes to see as you read this. Ask Him to do this for you.
The second thing that I feel is important to mention is the idea of approaching this passage of scripture with the understanding that Jesus is the “word” of God, and that when the text directs us to interact with God’s word in some way, we are to not only think of the written word, the Bible, but also to think of it in terms of the incarnate word, Jesus Christ. In John chapter 1 we read that “the word became flesh, and dwelt among us”. The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day knew the written word extremely well, but they were unable to “see”, “hear”, or believe in the incarnate word, Jesus Christ, when He showed up. To this day, Jews have been missing out on a relationship with God because they are still unable to see, hear, or believe in the incarnate word. It might even be said that it is more important to know the incarnate word of God, than it is to know the written word of God.
The plight of the Jews in missing the Messiah when He was here, even to this day, illustrates the danger of seeing Deuteronomy 6:4-9 as only referring to God’s written word, excluding the role that the incarnate word, Jesus, plays in our following the commands of scripture and fully benefitting from it. When we apply the incarnate word to our hearts, we are born again, and are transformed from the inside out. We are blessed. When we speak of Jesus in our homes, our children and spouse are blessed. When we let Jesus the incarnate word drive our actions and our thoughts, the world is blessed. This realization takes the impact of this passage of scripture to an entirely new level, and it becomes transformational for us, for our families, and for the world.
The third thing I want to mention is that we are to approach this passage like gardeners. The gardener plants the seed, fertilizes the soil, waters, weeds, etc. But God created the seed and causes the growth. Similarly, we apply the written word of God and the incarnate word of God to our life, but God causes the growth in us. We are completely dependent on Him ultimately. It is our job to tend the garden of our soul – to feed, water, weed, etc. We are responsible for doing the things we are commanded to do in God’s word, but God causes our new birth, our growth, etc. The parable of the sower and some of Jesus other parables are great illustrations of this. I encourage you to take responsibility for and obey the commands God has given. That is our part. He in turn will cause you to grow in grace, faith, hope, and love. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is all about our gardening responsibilities- to tend the garden of our own life, of our family’s life, and of the world around us. It outlines several gardening activities that God wants us to undertake, in order for the seed of faith planted in us to grow its best and bear the most fruit that it can.
My hope and prayer is that God will speak to you through the words of this commentary. May God bless your reading of this, and may His spirit use this to transform your walk with Him.
Lord God almighty, I come before you in Jesus name, and I ask that you would give me eyes to see, ears to hear, a willing heart, and an open mind, as I study your words to us in Deuteronomy. Speak to me. Reveal yourself to me. Make your ways known to me and show me how to live. Teach me how to tend the garden of my life, and to care for the seed of faith you have planted in me. Show me the Son, Your incarnate word, that I may gaze upon Him and learn His ways. Make Jesus real to me. Show me how he is the word that I am to act on and meditate on all the days of my life. I pray that you would transform me, by the renewing of my mind, and that the life of Christ would be made manifest in me to the fullest. I ask these things in Jesus name, amen.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Exodus 12 select verses – “…..they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, ….. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; ……. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. …. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
John 1:29 – “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!””
May the Passover Lamb, Jesus, be applied to your heart – the doorpost of your life – that death will pass over you.
Two Rivers Blog 
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