You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
– Deuteronomy 6:8
Now, I want you to think about this verse with me. This is God talking to his people about his word. And he is saying, basically, “You need to saturate your entire life with my Word. Talk about it all the time. When you lie down, when you sit up, when you rise, when you walk. All the time.” And then you get to verse eight, he says, “You shall bind my words as a sign on your hand.” Just picture something on your hand that you look at all the time. “They shall be as frontlets between your eyes,” you can’t escape looking at God’s words. That’s the way God causes people to live.
Deuteronomy 6:8 teaches us to center our lives on God’s Word.
And I just want to encourage us to think about, “Okay, what does this look like in our lives?” Because I’ve shared this before. A couple of centuries ago, it would’ve been common for an ordinary Christian, not a pastor or church leader, just everyday Christian, to rise before dawn for extended time and private prayer, meditation on God’s Word; to then be followed by family prayer, and meditation on God’s Word in the morning; to then be followed by time set aside in the middle of the day for personal, or corporate, like with the church, prayer, meditation on God’s Word, to be followed by family prayer, meditation on God’s Word in the evening; personal prayer, meditation on God’s Word before going to sleep.
That was once normal for a Christian, collective hours throughout the day in prayer, meditation on God’s Word. But for us today, I think most of us can’t even fathom that. Not amidst everything going on in our lives, right? I mean, how is that possible?
From the moment we rise to the moment we go to bed, to moments throughout the day, always to be looking at, “Well, wait a minute. Can we imagine having something that we look at first thing in the morning, right before we go to bed, and collective hours of our day in between?” I think we can. Do you know that the average, well, at least person in my country, spends five hours and 24 minutes a day on their mobile device?
From the moment we wake up, to the moment we go to bed, and everywhere in between. We check our phones on average about 96 times a day. Or once every 10 minutes. So, what would it look like for us to reorient our lives around God’s Word instead of our phones? And not that they have to be mutually exclusive, because we can have God’s Word on our phone. I just want to encourage you today to think about ways you can put the Word of God like it’s on your hand, or like a frontlet between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 6:8 emphasizes the value of Scripture over all else.
How can you look at, think about, in ways that lead to conversation about, and meditation on God’s Word all day long? I guarantee you, you will not regret one moment that you spend on God’s Word today. Or one step you take to soak in God’s Word more in your life, or in your relationships with others.
Oh, God, please help us to prioritize, and treasure, and focus on, meditate on, talk about, live according to your Word, like we see described here in Deuteronomy 6. God, please help us to saturate our lives with your Word. And we know even as we pray for your help in this, that we’re praying for life for us. Help us to experience life, we know your Word is life, we know your Word leads to life. We praise you for your Word, we praise you for the treasure that it is. It is more valuable, infinitely more valuable than anything else we could fill our minds with today. It brings life to us, it’ll bring life to others.
God, help us to speak your Word into others’ lives today. Help us to encourage others with your Word. Help us to share your Word with people around us who don’t know your Word. God, we pray that your Word would be so saturating our lives that it just blows out of us into others’ lives.
Prayer for Deaf Unreached People
Oh, god, we pray specifically today for unreached people around the world who are deaf, who don’t have access to your Word right now through whatever form of sign language they speak. God, we pray. Please bless all of those who are working. Think of specific individuals coming to my mind right now who are working, to spread the gospel among the deaf in the world. God, we pray that you’d bless their efforts, you would raise up and multiply more, and more men, and women, and children, who are doing that work. We pray that they would be reached with your Word, literally seeing your Word, and experiencing salvation in it.
Oh, God, please help us to fill our minds and our hearts with the truth, and love, and life, that are found in your Word alone. And then to talk about it all the time, and to spread it around us. God, we pray all this according to your Word in Deuteronomy 6. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
