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.
You with all our heart, soul, and strength.
Use our lives and our words to point others to You,
who first loved us.
When we teach others, we’re not just spending time, we’re investing it.
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).
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