(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 11:18-32)

18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

What words are the Israelites to fix in their hearts and minds? The words of Moses. However, are these just the words of a man named Moses? To Israel, they were Moses’ words, but to us, they are also God’s words, His Holy Scripture.

When Moses says to Israel, “fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds,” to us it is a reminder to fix God’s Word, the Bible, Holy Scripture, in our hearts and minds. When we read that Israel is to tie Moses’ words as symbols on their hands and bind them on their foreheads, this is a reminder that God’s Word cannot just remain lifeless in a Bible on the bookshelf, but needs to be inside of us, and a part of us.

As Israel was told to teach Moses’ words to their children, write them on the doorframes of their houses and gates, we too are reminded to teach God’s Word to our children, and to write them on the doorframes of our houses and gates, that we may live life being surrounded by His Word, which means we are surrounded by God Himself.

Brothers and sisters, we need to be inside the word, God’s Word, the Bible, Holy Scripture, and the word needs to be inside of us as well. Inside the word inside of me, reminds us that as we spend time with God’s Word, have it surround us, and live in it, that it will also be in us, speaking truth to us daily as we face the challenges of life.

Inside the word inside of me means that we are one with God’s Word, and His Word is one with us, and through that, we are one with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Inside the word inside of me means that we are in relationship with God and He is in relationship with us.

There should be no me without God’s Word, that is how bound we should be to Him, and Him to us. Inside the word inside of me is our hope for salvation, saving us from this broken world. It is the way, the truth, and the life leading us to God, with God living in us, and us in Him.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 11