[A
Monday / Wednesday / Friday Devotional Feature of the First Road Blog]
I
believe there are communication factors in God’s “vision statement” to Israel which
Joseph and Mary incorporated in raising Jesus and his half-siblings. I suspect God
used these factors to prepare Jesus for his extraordinary Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem, not just in terms of knowledge but in terms of freedom of interaction. In
saying this I suggest Deuteronomy
6:4-9 is not primarily about education. Although it begins with a word for “teach”
(08150 Nnv shaman – to sharpen,
whet as in sharpening a knife) it quickly moves to “talk” (01696 rbd dabar – the common
word for conversation). The focus is not Bible
study times but an atmosphere of family conversation permeated with real-time biblical content.
“Conversation? In your dreams. I
can’t get my family to talk about anything, let alone about God.”
The
atmosphere radiates from what precedes in the text. Do you remember our devotionals on the
Sovereign Commandments? Well, here they are! The conversational directive is suspended from the
first commandment: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your strength.” The second (love your neighbor as yourself),
is implied in the relationship of our closest “neighbors” – our children. Love
for God has an impact on all relationships, including family.
I
know the word “relationship” is over used. Nevertheless, it belongs here, and
in bold letters. It has to do with the same kind of camaraderie which a healthy
family enjoys as they talk about their favorite team, their most recent movie,
their joys, their sorrows, their memories, their dreams, their fears, and the
awesome pun someone posted on social media.
“Do you come from some other
planet? I can’t get to first base on any of those subjects except, maybe, the
puns.”
Ironically, the things we do most we study least, with the possible exception of eating. There are several web sites which
deal with good conversational skills. For our purposes, however, let’s think of the content
flowing from the Sovereign Commands.
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DEVOTIONAL: HOW WELL DO YOU LIKE POP-UP ADDS
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