Shaped By The Word

Pro. 22:6 says to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. But that presupposes that the parent knows how to train the child. How does the parent become prepared to train the child? In Deut. 6:4-9 we have a passage that gives us a look at the Jewish home and the training of children as God desired it. First, the love for God was to be the all consuming desire of each person, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." But that was not all. For the next verse says, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." It was necessary that the parents carried the words of God in their heart. Then they could teach them diligently to their children, and talk of them when they sat in their house, when they walked by the way, when they laid down, and when they rose up. These words were to shape the family in all aspects of their life. There was no part untouched by these words. They spoke of them constantly, and applied them to their lives in every facet of life. But that was not all. They were instructed to bind them as a sign on their hand, and between their eyes. Some people literally tied little boxes on their hands and on their foreheads that contained scrolls of Scripture, so that they would have a constant reminder of these words every time they looked at their hand, and everytime they used their eyes, they saw life through the Scriptures. But that was not all. They were to write these words on their doorposts of their houses, and again, on the gates outside their houses. They could not walk through a door without having a reminder from the Scriptures. Their lives were continually shaped by the Scriptures, talking of them, meditating on them, applying them, shaped by them throughout their lives. Will we allow our lives to be so shaped by the Word that we look at every situation in life through the Scriptures?