The Cracks
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 "These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon
your hearts. 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. Tie
them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the
doorframes of your houses and on your gates." NIV
In the last few years it has happened twice now. I have been busily munching
away when-crack-I hear and then feel something go snap in my mouth. Each time I
have experienced this, upon further examination I have discovered that a back
molar has cracked and a small piece of tooth has fallen away. Fortunately the
main part of the tooth has remained intact and with a little dental repair no
real damage has been done.
These episodes have reminded me however of the need to be diligent in
remembering God's commands. Even though I have read and reread them and written
about them and taught them I have also discovered that it is easy to get cracks
in my memory. I remember part of a passage but not all of it. I remember the
meaning of some passages but others cause me to scratch my head and search the
files of my mind concerning their interpretation-- I find myself thinking-now
how does that go again-or where do I find that verse?
Is it any wonder then that God wrote what he did in Deuteronomy to the
Israelites? He knows the frailty of the human mind. He knows how easy it is for
cracks to form within our memories and that repetition, repetition and more
repetition concerning the reading, studying, understanding and application of
his word is necessary to keep our minds and hearts in tune with his will and his
ways.
In today's world of secularism spending time in God's word is not a popular past
time, even for many Christians. In fact there are those who would consider, that
only those who are a little cracked in the head, would waste their time on such
things. Far better, in my opinion however, to be labelled cracked in the head by
man, than to have my relationship with God cracked in my heart due to forgetting
parts of his commands and the glorious, healing truth of his word. How about
you?
Prayer: Father God, thank you so much for the blessing of your word. Grant us as
your children a hunger and thirst for you through the revelation of Scripture.
May we not be ashamed to talk of your commands and ways as we walk throughout
our day, to think upon them as we sit or lay upon our beds at night and to
gather them together into our hearts day by day that our relationship with you
may be whole and holy, through Christ, the Living Word, in whose name we pray.
Amen.
Lynne Phipps
lynnephipps@hotmail.com
Atlin, B.C.