Leaving an Impression
Do you happen to have a piece of jewelry with something engraved on it? Sometimes a wedding band will have something engraved on it. Engravings can also be found on sterling silver plates and other dinnerware items citing the dates, cities in which they were made. Even fresh concrete has engravings from hands or initials that want to be remembered forever. Almost everything that is engraved is there for a reason, to be remembered, to know where it came from, to be connected to something or someone.
Well, God’s word should be engraved on our hearts as well. Let's look at what He has to say about this subject of engraving in Deuteronomy.
These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on 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.
Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 NIV
Deuteronomy 6:4 is the first time we see what the Jews call the Shema (pronounced Sha-mah). The Shema is one of the most famous prayers in the Bible. It was a daily prayer for ancient Israelites and is still recited by Jewish people today. In researching the Shema, here is what I found:
The Shema gets its name from the first Hebrew word of the prayer, “Hear” or “Listen.” Jews combined lines from Deuteronomy 6 with other passages in chapter 11, along with Numbers 15, and prayed these words every morning and evening. This prayer has been one of the most influential traditions in Jewish history, functioning as a pledge, prayer, and hymn of praise.
What a beautiful picture of starting and ending the day with God's Word. The Jewish people would pass this practice, this habit, down to generation after generation. That is what verses 7-9 focuses on, impressing God's words and commands on your children.
The word impress comes from the Hebrew word that means “repeat.” The NIV Study Bible has this to say about the Hebrew word for impress: “This is a rare word and can also have the meaning of ‘engrave.’ By repeating something often enough, a teacher can engrave the meaning on the mind, and talk about them constantly.”
I love this idea of engraving. You want to engrave God's word into not only your mind but also the minds of your children.
Does anybody 40 and older remember ID bracelets? Back in the 80’s we used to wear these gold bracelets with our names engraved on them. We didn’t have the technology that we have today with laser printing. Jewelers would use an old engraving machine to write on watches, rings and other jewelry.
On an engraving machine there are two arms that work together, a bigger one in the back and a smaller one in the front. The larger one was the piece with a sharp tool attached to it that did the actual engraving on the item. The smaller one was the one that traced the letter templates placed in the guides. The two arms were connected. Anything the small arm traced in the grooves of the templates, the larger arm would mirror and scratch on the jewelry. You couldn’t move one arm without the other. They move together in tandem. As long as you stayed within the grooves of the fonts, you were all good. If you pressed harder, it made more of a deeper imprint.
I think this is very much the same way God wants us to impress His words on our hearts and the hearts of our children. As we follow God as the master template, walking in the grooves of The Guide, He starts to write His word on our hearts. When we get out of the groove of His word, when we start to do our own thing, everything can go sideways very fast.
Here is something else to think about. The jewelry that gets engraved is very valuable. We are very valuable too. God wants to use us to write on our valuable children's hearts. He wants us to help teach them His ways. He gives us this great responsibility to teach our children and to help them understand God's Word.
I want to be a template of what God loves. I want to show how I am supposed to live out my life so it will be embossed, engraved, on my children’s lives as well. This is so important and a vital responsibility.
One of the biggest problems I see in society is that some parents want to delegate this responsibility out. They want the responsibility of engraving important things on our children's hearts to be put on teachers, coaches, pastors, churches and other leaders. That is not what Deuteronomy says. It is our responsibility as parents, as grandparents, as guardians.
Are you pressing hard and leaving a deeply engraved impression of God in your children? What about yourself? Are you pressing in to make sure you are engraving God’s word on your heart? We've got to be the ones modeling a relationship with Jesus. There is, or at least there should be, no other person on this earth that has a more powerful impact on your child than you. God gave the command to YOU.
As you spend time reflecting this week, ask yourself these questions:
What are you doing to pass on a Godly heritage and legacy?
What do your family Bible times look like?
What can you do to creatively impress God’s word on your heart and the heart of your family?
How can Bible memorization become a fun family project?
Spend some time in prayerthis week asking God for wisdom and direction. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His power to memorize scripture. Pray for God to help you become the example to others that Deuteronomy 6 is describing.
How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statues as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Psalms 119:9-16 NIV
