Teaching Them Diligently
All scripture is KJV 1611 and all definitions are Webster’s
1828
Deuteronomy
6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign
upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou
shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates.
In
the spring of 2017, we had a stewardship conference at our church. JC House
brought the messages. I love to hear God’s Word through this man’s preaching.
He is one of those “old school” preachers of which there are not many left. During
this conference, our Spanish church was invited to join us for our services. Our Spanish pastor, Francisco “Poncho” Maya,
his wife Liz, and their four children were there and sat in the section in
front of us. I, being the social butterfly that I am, was making the rounds
shaking hands and saying hi to others throughout the congregation before the
service began. My husband stayed at our seats and being the people watcher that
he is, he shared with me when I got back a very thought provoking (to me at
least) observation. He told me, with a bit of a laugh, how great it was to see
Bro Poncho walking around with his second to youngest son and the son of a
visitor shaking hands. Sounds pretty normal, but what made it great was that he
was instructing them on how to do it. Right hand…look them in the eye...don’t
squeeze a lady’s hand too hard…etc. I was like, aww, how sweet, but then…The
Holy Spirit got me to thinking, as He often does, “If we don’t teach them, who
will”. Tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered teaching our children. Remembering
the things we taught them and the things that we didn’t, but should have. Also,
remembering their successes and our failures.
This
past weekend, we had our Ladies Spring Banquet. Mrs. Roberson spoke to us from
her heart. It was a blessing. Then Sunday morning and evening, her husband
preached. Once again, the Holy Spirit got me to thinking when the preacher
mentioned teaching kids. So, as I will do when something comes up during a
message that I want to look into further, I wrote it to the side of my notes.
So,
on to what I found…
The
Late William “Bill” Nelson said, we are all teachers no matter if we want to be
or not. We are good teachers or bad teachers, no matter if we want to be or
not. I say the last part is our choice. We have to choose to be a good teacher
to our children, grandchildren, young people, and others. We are always teaching
them something.
So the Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 6:7a And
thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…
Teach “THEM”… What is the “them”? If you look back to
chapter 5, you will see that Moses now has the Ten Commandments. God says to teach them to our children…To not
just teach them, but to do it diligently.
Diligently is an adverb, so it tells us how to teach:
DILIGENTLY
With steady
application and care; with industry
or assiduity; not carelessly;
not negligently.
STEADY is interchangeable
with CONSTANTLY, adverb
Firmly;
steadily; invariably; continually; perseveringly.
APPLICATION, verb
1. The act of fixing the mind; intenseness of thought; close
study; attention;
2. The act of directing or referring something to a
particular case, to discover or illustrate the agreement or disagreement; as, I
make the remark and leave you to make the application
3. In theology, the act by which the merits of Christ are
transferred to man, for his justification.
INDUSTRY, noun
Habitual diligence in any employment,
either bodily or mental; steady attention to business; assiduity; opposed to
sloth and idleness. We are directed to take lessons of industry from the bee. Industry pays debts, while idleness or despair
will increase them.
ASSIDUITY, noun
1. Constant
or close application to any business or enterprise;
diligence.
2. Attention; Attentiveness to persons.
Assiduities, in plural, are services rendered with zeal and constancy.
ENTERPRISE, noun
That
which is undertaken, or attempted to be performed; an attempt; a project
attempted; particularly, a bold, arduous or hazardous undertaking, either
physical or moral.
Here are a few verses that correlate
to Deut 6:6-9:
And
these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart <Psalm 199:11>
And
thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, <Psalm
1:1>
and
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.<Proverbs 6:9-11>
And
thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, <Ecclesiastes 9:10>
and
they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.< Philippians 4:8>
And
thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house <Joshua 24:15>
and
on thy gates <Matthew 7:14>.
Who
is going to teach them, if we don’t? The
WORLD.
