“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength… you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them…Talk about them…Tie them…Wear them…Write them…Tell them…”
Deuteronomy 6:5-9, 21
Relationship is a commitment…giving ALL your heart, soul, and strength. Moses detailed that kind of dedication for the Israelites…talk about God’s rules all day, wear them on their bodies, and write them on their walls. (v. 7-9)
When our children were young, I mounted scriptures on our walls, made God part of all our activities, wore symbolic jewelry, and of course prayed with them morning, noon, and night. However, I knew my kids could follow all the rules and still not have relationship with God! That’s why Moses told the Israelites they were to tell their children stories of what God had done for them. (v. 20-25) Only personal experiences produce relationship.
I have relationship with God because of MY experiences. I not only passed those experiences on to my children, but they watched me LIVE relationship with God every day. However, I could not pass MY relationship to them…THEY had to choose.
So, if obeying rules and sharing experiences do not produce a God-relationship in others, then why do it? Because our words teach, our actions demonstrate, and our prayers with those people bring them into the presence of Almighty GOD! So, we DO those things, and then we trust…
“Father, help those in my life to remember ALL they have heard, seen, and felt…
Until THEY choose to experience relationship for themselves!”
