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Today’s passage, the Shema (from the Hebrew word “hear”), is a confession of faith recited every day by pious Jews and every Sabbath in the synagogues. Over the next few days, we’ll use these powerful verses as our parenting assignment. First, read the passage and then answer each question honestly before God. He is the final Evaluator. Yesterday we considered two questions. We will look at two more today.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Today’s questions:

Do you demonstrate your love for God with your whole person?
We could dive into each of these words – heart, soul, and strength. But, in essence, these words describe the entirety of who we are and what we do. As parents, mentors, and models, we must ask some penetrating questions. Do we love the Lord with our thinking? Our mind can take us places we shouldn’t go. What about our attitudes? Desires? Passions? Do we use our time and energy in ways that honor God?

Are you grounded in the foundations of the faith (knowledge), and are you living grounded (practice)?
The words of Scripture told in the Shema must be on our hearts. When I first came to The Bible Chapel years ago, people would describe a person’s knowledge of the Bible by saying, “He (She) knows their way around Scripture.” Do you know your way around Scripture? Living Grounded is a twelve-session study that will help you understand the foundational truths of the Christian faith. Parents—it would be a powerful exercise to study the truths in Living Grounded with your children. Order this resource at ronmoore.org/livinggrounded.

Father, may we be parents who love you with all our being. Help us show our children what it means to follow hard after you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.