“Give me ears to hear, hands to serve, and a heart to love.” I love these words of our children’s blessing during worship. They are firmly rooted in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the famous prayer known as “The Shema.” Shema simply means hear, listen, or pay attention. Deuteronomy 6:4 begins with that word, which is to say, “Give me ears to hear.” Listen and pay attention! Once we listen, then the transformation takes place so that our hands are used to serve God, and all of this is rooted in having a heart that loves God and neighbor. The transformation that Romans 12:1-2 speaks of is discovered when we heed the instructions of the Shema. Deuteronomy has a consistent emphasis on remembering what God has done for the Israelites and to love God with their hearts. Yet we can be forgetful, so our minds need a little bit of help along the way. Hence the prayer includes the instruction in verse 8 to tie them (the commands of Almighty God) around their hands and to bind them on their foreheads. How literally was this instruction taken? Quite! Phylacteries are little boxes used in ancient times and today which were bound to the forehead. There are also leather wraps for the hands to do the same practice of binding their hands with God’s Law. In my personal opinion, I’d pass on the boxes but some of the leather wraps look pretty cool! In Matthew 23:5 Jesus critiqued the Pharisees for making their phylacteries wide; they were just trying to show off how pious they were. They were taking the words of Deuteronomy 6 literally but they missed the bigger picture. This is about loving God with our whole heart, not the religious show we can put on. “Give me a heart to love,” we have the children say. The prayer continues, “Impress them on your children.” Make sure that the next generation knows what you know! Impress it on them. Don’t just talk about it, but live out what you know so that your words and actions leave a lasting impression on the children of the community. This isn’t just for biological parents, it’s for the whole nation, and by extension to us today, the whole church, the entire holy priesthood. The next command is to talk about these things in your house, when you’re out and about, on the road, in the morning and evening. Make the content of the Bible the content of your conversations. If you aren’t discussing the Bible, is it because you’re not reading it, or because you don’t find its subject matter compelling enough? Truly, anyone who thinks the Bible is simple or boring hasn’t read the Bible closely (or at all). Discuss the things that are vexing and confusing as well as that which is inspiring and encouraging. Discuss the challenges and memorize verses that the Holy Spirit uses to speak to you most clearly in a particular season of life. In this way, you’ll bind the words on your hands and on your heart, making an impression on the next generation and on your own peers. And it all starts with listening. “Give me ears to hear, hands to serve, and a heart to love.” Amen. - Pastor Steven