Deuteronomy 6:1-25
Love the LORD
1These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,
2so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged.
3Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
5And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
6These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
7And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
8Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
9Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
10And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,
11with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,
12be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
13Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
14Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.
15For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.
16Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
17You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you.
18Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God swore to give your fathers,
19driving out all your enemies before you, as the LORD has said.
20In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”
21then you are to tell him, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
22Before our eyes the LORD inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household.
23But He brought us out from there to lead us in and give us the land that He had sworn to our fathers.
24And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes and to fear the LORD our God, that we may always be prosperous and preserved, as we are to this day.
25And if we are careful to observe every one of these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us, then that will be our righteousness.”
Berean Standard Bible
Moses says that the LORD is one and commands Israel to love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. Love here is not a private feeling separated from life. It gathers the whole person toward God and gives the rest of obedience its center.
The words are to remain in the heart and be taught diligently to children. Israel is to speak of them at home, on the road, when lying down, and when rising. The command assumes that formation happens through ordinary repetition: meals, travel, bedtime, questions, and the habits of a household.
Moses also warns against forgetting the LORD after entering a land filled with houses, wells, vineyards, and olive trees they did not build or plant. Comfort can hide the Giver more easily than hardship does. The people must fear the LORD, serve Him, and refuse the gods of the surrounding nations.
When children ask why Israel keeps these statutes, the answer begins with slavery and rescue. Obedience remembers what God has done. The law is not meant to become an empty family custom; it is a response to the LORD's saving work.
How We Know
Jesus identifies Deuteronomy 6:4-5 as the greatest commandment and joins it to love of neighbor. That direct use in Mark and Matthew confirms the passage's central place in biblical teaching while preserving its call to love God with the whole self.
Questions
1 How were the people to love the LORD?
AnswerThey were to love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength, giving Him the loyalty of their whole lives.
2 When were parents to teach these words?
AnswerThey were to teach them in ordinary moments at home, on the road, at bedtime, and in the morning.
3 What danger would abundance create?
AnswerFull houses and plentiful food could lead Israel to forget the LORD who rescued them and supplied what they did not earn.
4 How were parents to answer a child's question about the law?
AnswerThey were to tell the story of slavery, the LORD's rescue, and His commands that called Israel to live faithfully.
What This Means for Us
Faith is taught through the atmosphere of ordinary life, not only through formal lessons. Children notice what a household celebrates, remembers, excuses, and discusses when no one is performing for an audience.
Tell the story of God's faithfulness in language your family can carry into daily decisions. Love for God becomes visible when gratitude, truthfulness, mercy, and attention to His word share the same home.
Prayer
LORD, make our love for You whole and steady. Help us speak of Your faithfulness naturally, teach our children with patience, and remember You when life becomes comfortable. Amen.