This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.This preamble to the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 reveals to us the heart of Moses, the teacher. He is teaching what God instructed him to teach. He is investing in a people who would, eventually, not be under his teaching or leadership. They would be on their own, moving to a new land, learning to remain faithful to God, teaching what they have learned to their children. Moses would not only have to teach the people about God's ways as he prepared them for their walk in a new, unfamiliar, and distant land; he would have to teach them how to pass the legacy of faith down through the generations.
What responsibility! What opportunity! It was bigger than Moses. It was about teaching for the future. He was looking ahead in time and space when a people would have to stand alone, in the absence of their current teacher. It was about teaching others so they could teach others, especially the children, to "love the Lord their God with all their hearts, with all their souls, and with all their strength." (Deut. 6:5, HCSB)
God, help us to understand how teaching Your Word is about preparing people for the future. Help us to teach in a way that enables those who are hearing to be able to pass on to those who didn't hear, what they need to hear in order to embrace Christ and develop a growing, dynamic faith. May we ever remember that, when we teach what you instruct us to teach, its impact reaches beyond the limits of time and space. Teaching Your Truth is about preparing people for the future - in this present life and for eternity!
