Make It Count: Living for What Lasts

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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How do you want to be remembered?

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In 1866, Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and built up companies and laboratories in more than 20 countries all over the world. In the process, he amassed a considerable fortune.

When Nobel’s brother died, the newspaper made a mistake and ran an obituary for Alfred Nobel. In the obituary they stated that he was known for creating the most destructive force known to mankind: dynamite.

When Nobel read the obituary, he decided that he didn’t want his family name remembered for destruction.

While science had built the foundation for Nobel’s own activities as a technological researcher and inventor, efforts to promote peace had always been close to his heart.

As a result he began thinking about giving away his fortune as a means to recognize those that have made significant contributions in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.

On November 27, 1895, Nobel signed his final will and testament at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. When Nobel died on December 10, 1896, it was discovered that according to his will, his vast wealth was to be used for five prizes, including one for peace.

The prize for peace was to be awarded to the person who "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of peace congresses."

Just before his death, he confided in a friend, "I want to be remembered for peace, not destruction."

What will your obituary say? Or, to put it another way, how will your life be summed up?

(From a sermon by Tim Huie, "Playing the Fool" 1/23/2009)

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The context of our scripture text for today is that Israel, in its 40 years of wilderness wanderings had finally neared the border of Canaan for the second time.

The first time, thirty-eight years before, 10 spies lacked faith in God and their negativity spread throughout the entire nation. Now, that first generation was all gone. A new one had arisen that would enter the land God had promised them!

Moses would soon be giving the mantle of leadership to Joshua. Joshua would then lead the people across the Jordan River to conquer Palestine. They would fight a war that would last seven years. The Canaanites would be dispossessed and Israel would set up their nation to serve God.

In preparation for that moment of transition, Moses preached four powerful sermons to the people that are recorded in this book - Deuteronomy. Our text is from Moses' second sermon, his longest, which begins at Deuteronomy 4:44 and continues to Deuteronomy 28:68.

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Don’t worry! I don’t plan to preach a sermon that long this morning!

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Our passage today truly contains the crux of the whole sermon and the entire book of Deuteronomy - the core statement of biblical faith. These verses are called the Shema.

They are used to open every Jewish service and are the first scriptures that Jewish children learn. Shema is a transliteration of the first word “hear”. This word means to listen, but it also includes the expectation of obedience.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

One commentary explains:

Israel needed to hear, first of all, that the Lord our God, the Lord is one. This rendering is one of several possible translations of this text. Another is, “The Lord our God is one (Lord).” Still another option is, “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” All these and a few others are permissible grammatically, and in the end all point in the same direction—to the uniqueness and supremacy of Yahweh, God of Israel. The NIV rendering, which reflects the most common approach to the Hebrew text, emphasizes the unity (and implied self-consistency) of Yahweh. The second and third translations emphasize God’s distance from the invented deities of the nations and suggest that Israel’s strength lies not only in the worship of Yahweh but in the exclusive worship of him.

Andrews, S. J., & Bergen, R. D. (2009). Deuteronomy (p. 85). B&H Publishing Group.

The words used for God in this verse are fascinating.

J. Vernon McGee writes:

“The Lord” is the Hebrew tetragram transliterated YHWH or JHVH, translated in English as Jehovah. “God” is the translation for Elohim. Elohim is a plural word. Since there is no number given with it, one can assume the number is three.… It could be translated, “Hear, O Israel: Jehovah, our Trinity is one Jehovah.”

Israel lived in a world of idolatry. The nations were polytheists who worshiped many gods. The message that the nation Israel was to give to the world was the message of the unity of the Godhead, the oneness of the Godhead. Jehovah, our Elohim, is one Jehovah. That is the message for a world given over to idolatry.

Today we live in a world, not so much of idolatry and polytheism, but of atheism. In our age we also are to give the message of the Trinity. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are talking about the same Jehovah. He is our Elohim, our Trinity. But He is one Jehovah.

McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Law (Deuteronomy) (electronic ed., Vol. 9, p. 50). Thomas Nelson.

In a world filled with idols and false gods, Moses challenged the people of Israel to build a spiritual legacy by loving God - the one true God - supremely. The Lord God is distinct from all other gods. All other gods are figments of people’s imagination. Their character is flawed. But the LORD God is holy, just, merciful, faithful, loving and good.

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While McGee writes that our world is more one of athiesm than idolatry and polytheism, in a real sense our world is much like that of ancient Israel.

Today, we are surrounded by the idols of sports, Hollywood celebrities, TikTok influencers, and politicians. In our TV shows, movies, literature, popular psychology, and more, we are inundated with various pagan theologies that many try to mesh together.

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But we, as followers of Jesus Christ, believe in one God. Our God is a Trinity - three Persons in one Godhead - Father, Son and Spirit. But He is one God. There is only one way to God - through faith in Jesus Christ, His Son.

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The ancient Israelites were entering a new land, creating a new nation and identity. It was extremely important that they establish a spiritual legacy of worshiping the LORD God and living by His statutes.

Unfortunately, we know that Israel struggled to pass on a spiritual legacy to the next generation and, as a result, the nation went through a repeating cycle of sin, judgment, repentance, and revival only to restart the cycle.

Judges 2:7 ESV

And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.

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Judges 2:10 ESV

And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

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Our circumstances today are much different, yet the challenge remains the same:

“It only takes one generation to forget, or reject, the principles and ideals we once held dear.”

Morris IV, Henry M. https://www.icr.org/content/one-generation-away

With this reality in mind, then, we find the big idea of our text encouraging… yet challenging.

Big Idea: You build a spiritual legacy by loving God supremely.

Notice with me three ways we can build a spiritual legacy, according to our scripture:

1. Love God above all else in your personal life (Deut. 6:5).

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The Hebrew language, like the English language, used various body parts as metaphors to speak of different aspect of the person. Many of these metaphors - word pictures - carry across from Hebrew to English. But some are different.

Here in our text, we see one of those differences:

In English, “heart” is used metaphorically for the seat of emotions, in contrast to logic and reason. Hebrew uses it as the center of both emotions and reason/intellect.

Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. (2000). The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed., Dt 6:6). InterVarsity Press.

In other words, this command to love God with all our heart is not so much about our feelings. It is not merely about our feelings. Rather, this command is telling us to love God with emotions, our reasoning, and our brains. We are to love God with both our mind and our will.

The Hebrew word for “soul” is more difficult to define, but it seems to refer to the source of life and vitality, or even to one’s “being.” The two terms “heart” and “soul” indicate that we are to love God with unreserved devotion.

Maxwell, J. C., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Deuteronomy (Vol. 5, p. 117). Thomas Nelson Inc.

As you may remember, when Jesus was challenged by one of the scribes who asked him which commandment was the most important of all, Jesus quoted this scripture in Deuteronomy, but also added that we should love God “with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

One commentary sums this up, saying:

The people of Israel are to exhibit a love which dominates their emotions, directs their thoughts, and is the dynamic of their actions. This degree of love will be evident to God and to others.

Maxwell, J. C., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Deuteronomy (Vol. 5, p. 117). Thomas Nelson Inc.

How do we build a spiritual legacy that will impact our children, grandchildren and everyone around us?

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We begin with ourselves - our personal life. We personally, individually, must truly love God - and by love we mean more than emotions and feelings.

We demonstrate our love for God by what we think about - what keeps us up at night. We demonstrate our love for God by what drives us - our passions, our hopes, our dreams. We demonstrate our love for God by what we put our energy into.

Does what we do demonstrate a love for God?

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We begin to build a spiritual legacy by loving God above all else in our personal life, but we continue (and eventually pass on our legacy) because we…

2. Live by God’s Word in your family life (Deut. 6:6–7).

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 ESV

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

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At one point in life, I thought knew a lot about parenting and married life.

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Then I got married and a couple kids. Now, I feel like I don’t know a lot at all!

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Seriously, though - looking back on my time as a kid growing up with my parents, I feel like one of the most important family habits we maintained was family devotions at night.

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When my brothers and I were very young, we read The Picture Bible - a comic-styled version of almost all the stories in the Bible - over and over again. We read those Bibles over and over so much that they would fall apart and we would have to buy another.

I attribute much of my foundational understanding and knowledge of God’s Word to the regular reading of those Bibles. My love for God’s Word can even be attributed to the Picture Bible.

The creators of that Bible did something smart. Almost every chapter would end with a story at the cliffhanger. I started reading the Picture Bible during the day because I wanted to know what happened. And I would read and read and read.

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Our family found it harder as my brothers and I reached the teen years to keep up our family devotions. It seemed like there were more interruptions.

But reading God’s Word and praying as disciplines were still emphasized, and by that time I had begun devotions as a personal discipline.

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I personally don’t feel like as a husband and father I’ve done as good a job as my parents did with family devotions. Yet regular prayer - both morning and evening - is something we emphasize as a family.

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Truly, however, this scripture is talking about more. The idea here is that as parents or grandparents we are constantly ruminating on scripture and biblical principles, and then discussing it with and teaching it to our children and grandchildren.

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What this looks like may vary from family to family, but the challenge for us is this: that in our family life we are constantly pondering on God’s Word and God’s will and then teaching and talking about it with one another.

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What if we feel like we have missed our golden opportunity to live by God’s Word in our family life? Maybe our kids are older or grown up and out of the home? What does this scripture say to us?

One commentator makes the following point:

If you haven’t been teaching your kids, consider the Chinese proverb which says, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today.”

We should have done things twenty years ago. All of us know that.

But the second best time to do it is now. And if your kids have grown up and moved out of the house—there’s always grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or neighbor kids with whom you can share the Lord.

Courson, J. (2005). Jon Courson’s application commentary: Volume one: Genesis–Job (p. 556). Thomas Nelson.

We begin to build a spiritual legacy by loving God above all else in our personal life. Then, we live by God’s Word in our family life. Thirdly, we…

3. Lift up God’s name in your community life (Deut. 6:8–9).

Deuteronomy 6:8–9 ESV

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

A number of Bible scholars suggest the original intent of Moses’ words here was that figuratively the people should bind God’s Word on their hands and heads, and write the scriptures on their doorposts and gates.

But a number of Israelites took this scripture literally. Their practice may have been to take a pagan custom and make it spiritual.

Amulets were often worn in the ancient Near East as protection from evil spirits. Precious metals and gems were considered particularly effective.

At times amulets would include magical words or spells. Israelite practice disapproved of amulets, but if used here they are converted to reminders of the law or, in other places, may contain prayers or blessings, such as the small silver scrolls that were found in a preexilic tomb just outside Jerusalem in 1979.

These miniature scrolls contain the blessing of Numbers 6:24–26 and represent the oldest extant copy of any biblical text. There is also evidence that symbols worn on the forehead or arm were used as indicators of loyalty to a particular deity.

Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. (2000). The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed., Dt 6:8). InterVarsity Press.

Over time Orthodox Jewish men developed the custom of copying four sections from the Law (Ex. 13:1–10; 13:11–16; Deut. 6:4–9; 11:13–21). They would put these passages in leather cases on straps and bind them to their left arms and foreheads during morning prayers.

Copies of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Deuteronomy 11:13-20 would also be put in metal or glass cases and mounted to the right-hand doorpost of every entrance to their homes.

(Source: Maxwell, J. C., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Deuteronomy (Vol. 5, p. 119). Thomas Nelson Inc.)

By the time of Jesus, however, this practice had become less about loyalty to God’s Word and more about spiritual pride.

In Matthew 23:5, Jesus condemned the religious leaders for making their phylacteries broad. Apparently, they would purposefully make their little boxes containing the scriptures bigger as a matter of spiritual pride.

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What was Moses’ point in telling them to wear scriptures on their arms, in front of their eyes, and to post them on their doors and gates?

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The idea was that as the Israelites went out into the community every day, whether to go to work or school, to shop in the market or to worship, or merely just to be part of the community… that they would declare God’s name - lift his name high - in the community and the world!

In the same way, we are called to live publicly for Jesus. We bear the name of Christ; therefore, we should bear it proudly, responsibly, faithfully.

By how we live, how we speak and how we act and think, do people see Christ in us?

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How can we leave a spiritual legacy - a godly heritage - to others?

Big Idea: You build a spiritual legacy by loving God supremely.

Let’s consider some practical ways to demonstrate a supreme love for God.

Love God above all else in your personal life (Deut. 6:5).

Do you start your day with God? Do you set aside time for prayer and reading God’s Word before anything else?

Is there anything that competes with your love for God? Personal comfort, the approval of peers, wealth, possesions, or success?

Do you demonstrate your love for God by obeying him, even when it is not convenient or the popular thing to do?

Live by God’s Word in your family life (Deut. 6:6–7).

Do you lead your family in devotions together?

Do you seek to find natural ways to talk about God throughout everyday life?

Do you model obedience to God’s Word before your children and grandchildren?

Do you lead your family in faithful and engaged church attendance?

Do you put scriptures before your family - maybe a verse on a note stuck on the fridge, maybe a decoration in the home, maybe post-it note stuck in the car, maybe a scripture as your phone wallpaper?

Lift up God’s name in your community life (Deut. 6:8–9).

Sometimes, Christians have become notorious for being obnoxious about their faith. On the other hand, other Christians have been afraid to live courageously for Jesus.

Does your faith show in your integrity, in kindness and in your speech?

Do you work out your faith by volunteering, helping neighbors and meeting needs in Jesus’ name?

Do you speak of your faith in a natural way when people talk about life’s challenges?

Are you the same person in public that you are in private?

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There are a variety of ways we can apply this scripture to our lives, but let me simply challenge you to examine your life - your personal life, your family life, and your life in the community.

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Are you demonstrating love for God above all else?

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How many of you have heard of "The Amazing Randi?"

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He was a stage magician, "mentalist," and escape artist (in the tradition of Houdini). He once escaped from a block of ice and once escaped from a straitjacket while hanging upside-down over Niagara Falls.

He once broke a record for staying underwater (in an air-tight coffin) for over two hours in a public pool in London, England. Later, he became something of a "debunker" who reveaeds the "tricks" behind some stage magic and alleged psychic powers.

Penn Gillette wrote a biography of him and, in that biography, he revealed that when Randi was performing as a "mentalist" on-stage, he would awaken each morning and take a note out of his wallet, destroy it, write a new one, and put it in his wallet.

The note essentially said: "I am James Randi. This is xx-xx-xxxx and today will be the day I die."

That way, IF he died on that day, someone would find the note, believe that he had accurately predicted the day of his death, and his legend would live on.

That’s a lot of trouble to guarantee your legacy when you’re not, by definition, going to be around to enjoy it.

What if we all had a sheet of paper in our wallet today? What if they all said something like, "I am David Gayle Woods. Today is November 2, 2025 and I know that this will be the day that I die?"

(adapted from Johnny Wilson, https://sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/72132/legacy-the-amazing-randi-by-johnny-wilson)

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How would we spend that last day of our life? Would what we do demonstrate our love for God above all else? Would we seek to impact our family with God’s Word? Would we declare God’s name to a sin-sick world?

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The useless dedication of the Amazing Randi to go through that ritual with the wallet is embarrassing when we have a Lord that can make sure that every day is His day—-even if it’s the day that we die.

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How do you want to be remembered?

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You build a spiritual legacy… by loving God supremely!