Along the Way

"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 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" (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

Many times in the past, I found myself elevating and admiring people who have a structured devotional time--specifically, families who do so. To me, it seemed like the true mark of a super-spiritual family to have family devotions each night, or for a couple to read a devotional book together regularly. It also made me feel guilty, or like a failure, even, when I looked at my own life and didn't see that.

While I think these can be great things, this passage from Deuteronomy suggests to me that what I used to think was the ultimate pinnacle of godliness is not, in fact, what God requires or desires most. He wants His commands written on our hearts and integrated into our lives. His Word isn't something we read for five minutes, then go on with our day. No, He says, the true mark of a "super-spiritual" family--a family that is obeying and honoring Him--is one who talks about His Word at home, on the road, in the morning and at night. They post reminders of God to themselves everywhere. It becomes a heart attitude, a lifestyle--not a task to be completed and checked off the list. They worship along the way, bringing God into all they do.

Realizing this is liberating, to know that God's approval doesn't hang on whether you and your spouse read some trite devotional book together each evening. But it's also a bigger challenge because it means He asks something far greater and more meaningful. He doesn't ask for five or fifteen or even sixty minutes of lip service. He asks for a lifestyle--one in which there are no barriers between sacred and secular; one in which His Word and His ways are so deeply entrenched in our hearts that we can't help thinking about Him and discussing Him wherever we are, whatever we're doing. One in which everything, even the mundane, is ultimately about Him.