Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

December 9
Tuesday


OUR LIFE
IS A PRIMER

READ:
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
You shall teach them
diligently to your
children...when you
walk by the way, when
you lie down, and
when you rise up.
__Deuteronomy 6:7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The New England Primer was published in the late 1600s. Throughout the colonies that would later become the United States, the book became a widely used resource.

This early American textbook was based largely on the Bible, and it used pictures and rhymes based on Scripture to help children learn to read. It also included prayers like this one: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

In Colonial America, this became a way that one generation was able to pass along their faith to the next generation. It fit well with what God wanted of His people, the ancient Israelites, as recorded in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, 'these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach [God's commandments] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them...when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

As we talk about who God is, what He has done for us, and how He desires our love and obedience, our lives can become primers to the next generation. We can be teaching tools that God will use to help people in their walk with Him. __Dennis fisher

```````````````````Lord, we love You. We want to learn to love```````````````````
````````````````````You with all our heart, soul, and strength.```````````````````
````````````````Use our lives and our words to point others to You,```````````````
```````````````````````````````who first loved us.````````````````````````````
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When we teach others, we're not just spending time,
we're inventing it.

********************************Today's Bible Reading __ Deuteronomy 6:4-9*****************************
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD
our God, the LORD is one!

5 You shall love the LORD
Your God with all your
heart, with all your soul,
and with all your strength.

6 And these words which I
command you today shall
be in your heart. 7 You shall
teach them diligently to
your children, and shall talk
of them when you sit in
your house, when you walk
by the way, when you lie
down, and when you rise
up. 8 You shall bind them as
a sign on your hand, and
they shall be as frontlets
between your eyes. 9 You
shall write them on the
doorposts of your house
and on your gates.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, known as the Shema (from the Hebrew for
"hear," v.4), is the basic Jewish confession of faith. Every devout
Jew was to recite the Shema twice daily as a reminder of the
first and second commandments (Ex. 20:2-5). After giving the
Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:6-22), Moses gave God's people
the one heart principle that undergirds the entire law: "Love the
LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all
your strength" (6:5). God demands exclusive, wholehearted, and
undivided allegiance and devotion. Jesus said that this is "the first
and greatest commandment" (Matt. 22:36-38).