Today’s Readings: Mar 26 Deut 5:1‐6:25, Luke 7:11‐35, Ps 68:19‐35, Prov 11:29‐31

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “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.”

Each morning in Israel our group would quote the Sh’ma in Hebrew and English. The word Sh’ma that we translate as hear carries a lot more weight in Hebrew. It is a hearing that responds – more like a heeding.

Notice how clear it is in the context of chapter 6. “God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them… by keeping all his statutes and his commandments… Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them… diligently keep the commandments of the Lord … Lord commanded us to do all these statutes… And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment…”

In our western mind, it is easy to learn information and not do anything with it. For example, many of us grew up wanting to learn information from our teachers and professors, knowing that we were never going to use that information in life. However, it is not that way with God. He teaches us so that we apply what we are learning. His instructions are not something that we need to think through, decide when they are best, balk at, etc. As Nike eloquently put it… Just Do It.

Apply: Today I want to consciously think about how I can apply God’s commandment of loving him with ALL of me.