Putting God’s word on our hearts
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:5-9
Verse 6 from Deuteronomy 6, commands us to put God’s word on our hearts. But how do we do this? Through the practice of daily devotions – by reading the Bible and listening to God’s words for us.
We can take up the practice of reading God’s word each day and reflecting on it. This ‘devotion’ time is a time and space specifically set aside, where we invite God to work in our hearts. A daily Bible reading, like those found in the Growing Faith at Home resource, helps to focus our thoughts and guide our prayers, helping us tune out other distractions so we can give God all of our attention.
The general purpose of a devotion is to encourage spiritual growth. God has called each of us into a relationship with him and so we want to spend time on this relationship. Having a regular devotional time helps you grow closer to God through study and reflection. It can then help you share your faith with those around you. As adults, parents or grandparents, our devotion times together might look different to devotions we share with our children or grandchildren. Each home will have different times of the day where it is possible to listen to and reflect on God’s word together. Some may find their family is together in the morning over the breakfast bench, while others will read God’s word before dinner. Others find that the time just before sleep is a wonderful opportunity to be calm, reflect and find peace through reading and prayer together.
There are an enormous range of devotional books, apps, websites and email lists available for every season of your life, every season of the church year and every age of your children. One of the most valuable ways we can make connections for our families is by building on the ideas – the gospel – shared in church on Sundays. The Growing Faith at Home resource is a wonderful extension of this for all ages for the entire week. We would love to hear your ideas on how you use this resource. Please let us know by sending us an email, or via the Facebook group.
May God bless your commitment to this spiritual practice in your home and family.
Rachel Schilling
