Teaching & Tattooing Part 2

Deuteronomy 6:8–9 (ESV)

8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

We all want our children to do the best in the world that they can possibly do.

What that exactly looks like is always the question.

More of education, home school, public school, sports (club ball), extra curricular actives.

Joshua 1:8 (ESV)

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

WHat’s crazy about this passage is when you consider this text and understand what lied ahead for Joshua…

He’s about to send spies to Jericho.

They’re about to cross over the Jordan to begin this conquest of Canaan, this land that God is giving to the Israelites.

God is going to call Joshua and the men of Israel to have courage for what is about to take place.

And in the midst of all of this…

At the beginning of this book, what we see from God’s commands is that the key to his success was spiritual… specifically, the key to his success from verse 8 would to be rooted in God’s Word rather than depending on military might.

This same concept applies to all of God’s people.

God’s people will prosper when we know God’s Scripture!

We must have confidence in God through His Word that we will see fruition from this in our children.

Disciple Making Parents will post and memorize the Word of God.

Post These Words

Deuteronomy 6:8–9 (ESV)

8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Some have taken this to be literal with Orthodox Jews tying boxes to their foreheads.

Israeli Hotels have Boxes next to the door of each hotel room. (Mezuah)

This was not a literal thing to do, but something that was to encourage the Israelites to have it implanted into their hearts and minds.

Deuteronomy 11:18 ESV

18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

Chuck Swindoll states:

I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking than memorizing Scripture… No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be shaper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified.

The Benefits of Memorizing Scripture

It will make us (biblically) prosperous and successful (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-3)

It can bring salvation to our children (2 Tim. 3:15)

2 Timothy 3:15 ESV

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

It will help us fight temptation (Matt. 4:4)

It will help us have victory over sin (Psalm 119:9, 11)

It will help renew our minds and fight the temptation to conform to the world (Rom. 12:2)

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

It will help us pray better (John 15:7)

It will help strengthen us internally (1 John 2:14)

It will help us take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5)

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

It will give the Holy Spirit Words to speak to our conscience (John 14:26)

THIS WILL BE TOUGH WORK.

WE ARE NATURALLY SELFISH AND LAZY WITH OUR TIME.

But something worth fighting toward to help our children think objectively about life situations and not subjectively allow them to be controlled by their emotions with each random wave.

“when we are memorizing Scripture, we are focusing our mind on this one verse and storing it in the warehouse of our mind.” —->

Again, we are storing little deposits into our children’s minds and hearts.

Think of each time we work on scripture memory with our children as a deposit transaction.

In the constant repetition our minds are being reshaped to think like God more and more.

How Will We Do This?

Bettis says that family memorization combines all the principles we have spoken about from Deut. 6.

For him and his family, their family memorization would serve as their devotional all week giving them something to teach and talk about.

He would read the verse or passage of the week from the Bible, saying the reference before and after. He would then close the Bible and say the verse again.

Then his wife would say it out loud.

Then the kids would say it out loud from oldest down to the youngest with various times of giving little prompts here and there as was needed.

At the end, giving out something as a reward (chocolate chips).

ONE PASSAGE A WEEK FOR FOUR YEARS WILL GIVE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN 200 PASSAGES OF MEMORY IN THAT TIME.

Here is a method of memorization that fits into the life of a family:

1. Commit to a daily time to memorize rather than a certain number of verses. Ten minutes twice a day works great with small children. Mealtime works best, any time the whole family can sit down at the table together.

2. Rather than force-memorize, have each family member read verses out loud around the table. Do this every day and all of you will learn them through a natural process. If you and your children are new to this practice be prepared for the first 2-3 months to feel like immense mental strain. Once over this psychological hump, all of you will memorize faster and with more ease.

3. Be sure that you and your kids understand a verse and its context before memorizing it so that later you will use it properly. Talk about it. Apply it to situations that came up that week. Ask questions about what it might mean for each of you. That’s really what meditating is all about.

4. If your children are having trouble memorizing, help them record themselves reading the verse out loud. Then encourage them to listen to it before bed at night. They will love hearing their own voices read the verses!

5. Start on a new verse once everyone can quote the current verse daily for several days.

6. Be sure to take time to celebrate each person’s success. We rewarded our children for memorizing just as most parents find some form of reward for completing chores and conquering hard tasks. “Money to memorize” kept resistance at bay and made it fun.

7. Once the verses are memorized, file them in a box of 3 x 5 cards so that each day of the week has different verses. On Monday review the Monday verses, on Tuesday review the verses filed under the Tuesday tab, etc. Total recall of any material demands regular review. This overcomes the frustration of memorizing a verse only to forget later.

8. Each day pass the new verse around the table for every family member to read out loud, then pass around the review verses for that day. Remember to keep it short— 10 to 15 minutes once or twice a day at most.

9. Eventually you will need to add weekly categories to your review system in order to ensure regular review. Review memorized verses as much or as little as you must to keep them memory-fresh.

10. Keep it fun. Some children (and some adults) have a harder time memorizing than others. Do not allow this to become a time of embarrassment for the one who is a little slower to get it. Keep talking about the truths in the verses so that it feels like a nugget of wisdom, not a random list of words.

Do Not Forget The Heart Work

Now, while integrating whatever strategy in our homes to memorize God’s Word, we must not forget the goal of making sure this Word, the power of salvation that God has given us moves itself 18 inches from the head to the heart.

Let us not forget that this is the goal.

Let us not get so focused on the goal of memorization, to where we lose focus of where we want this word to eventually make it.

The Pharisees knew God’s Word… and yet they didn’t know it in such a way that put them into a heart posture of being ready for the Messiah when He did actually come. Their heart postures were in completely in the wrong because they learned it in a LAW HEAVY household and culture.

Let our children learn this Word in a LAW & GRACE household that constantly emphasizes the Gospel. With parents who are praying for the Holy Spirit in aiding us to draw their hearts to the Lord.

Self Feeders

Ultimately, as we spoke about a few weeks ago, we want our children to feed themselves eventually.

Only the Holy Spirit can give them a love for God’s Word, BUT, we can gradually move them to teaching themselves the Word of God. OH how much I would have appreciated this as a child, from either my parents or my church!

Little Finger – Hearing

Pastors and teachers teach from the Word provides fresh insight into the Scriptures. The weakest finger (the pinkie) represents hearing, because we retain only five percent of what we hear.

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Ring Finger – Reading

Reading gives us an overview of the Bible and is the foundation of a daily quiet time. This is represented by the ring finger. We generally retain 15 percent of what we read. Revelation 1:3

Revelation 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Middle Finger – Studying

Studying the Scriptures deepens our convictions. It requires greater time and effort but results in increased knowledge of the Bible. Most people retain 35 percent of what they study. This is represented by the middle finger. Acts 17:11

Acts 17:11 ESV

11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Index Finger – Memorizing

God’s Word enables us to use Scripture, “the Sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17), to overcome temptations and to have verses readily available for ministering to others. The index finger, our strongest finger, represents memorization. We remember 100 percent of what we memorize if we consistently review it. Psalm 119:9-11

Psalm 119:9–11 ESV

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Thumb – Meditation

Meditation is the process that accompanies each of the other four methods of Scripture intake. This is why meditation is assigned to the thumb. Only the thumb can touch all the other four fingers. By meditating on God’s Word as we hear, read, study, and memorize, we discover its transforming power at work in us.

Psalm 1:2-3

Psalm 1:2–3 ESV

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Conclusion

It seems crazy… but a teenager comes across anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 words per day!

This should tell us something as parents, that we are in a fight for the minds and hearts of our children with the culture around them who are throwing in all these other deposits of knowledge at the same time we are.

WE MUST seek to be making sure that God’s Words are a BIG CHUNK of those 20,000-50,000 words per day. If not… we will LOSE THE FIGHT.

True Bible-readers and Bible-searches never find it wearisome. They like it least who know it least, and they love it most who read it most. They find it newest who have known it longest, and they find the pasture to be the richest whose souls have been the longest fed upon it.

Spurgeon

May the Word of God stand out and be valued in our homes.

Disciple Making Parents will post and memorize the Word of God.

For Thought, Discussion, And Action

· What are the benefits of memorizing the Word of God? Do you agree? Why is memorizing scripture so difficult? How can posting scripture around the house help? Why is memorizing as a family such a good habit?

· Have you heard of Navigator’s hand illustration before? How can you begin now praying for and implementing these habits into your family life?