Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. ~ Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (NIV)
Here is a multiple-choice question for you. Based on these verses of Deuteronomy chapter 11, finish this sentence: “The Word of God is…”
a) Utterly useless—we would be better off not reading it.
b) Hardly helpful—just one of many books we can use for guidance.
c) Slightly significant—perhaps we should consider taking it into account once in a while.
d) Important! Indispensable! Vital for life!
Read through the commands the LORD gives us about his Word in this text one more time, and the answer is clear. “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds” doesn’t mean “utterly useless.” “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads” doesn’t mean “hardly helpful.” “Teach them to your children…talk about them at home…write them on your doorframes” doesn’t mean “slightly significant.” The LORD is very clear: The Word of God is important! It’s indispensable! It’s vital for life!
But that brings us to another question. Why? Why is the Word of God so important that he commands us to fix it in our hearts and minds? Why is the Word of God so indispensable that he commands us to teach it to our children? Why is the Word of God so vital for life that he commands us to talk about it when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up? Why?
It is because the Word of God isn’t just filled with suggestions for an improved life. It isn’t just a guidebook for morality. It isn’t just another man-made guess at what it takes to get right with God. No, the Word of God is truth. It is the truth. It is revelation that has come straight from God about who we truly are and about who he truly is.
His Word shows us who we are apart from Jesus. We are sinners who are doomed to spend eternity in hell, separated from all of God’s love and blessings.
His Word shows us who he is. He is the Savior-God who has rescued us from the punishment our sins deserve through Jesus’ perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection.
His Word shows us who we are through faith in Jesus. We are his forgiven children who have the privilege of living for him now and with him forever in heaven.
Now that is a message that is important! And indispensable! And vital for life!
LORD God, nothing is more important than your Word. Thank you for giving us so many opportunities to hear it, read it, learn it, and study it. Grant us the faith to believe it and the strength to live it. Amen.
Living Hope Church 