Deepest Affection
Read This Week: Deuteronomy 6
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NIV
Deuteronomy 6 is a beautiful reminder that our faith is not meant to be confined to select moments; it is meant to shape our whole lives. Moses begins the section with the great confession, Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one, and immediately connects that belief with love: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Biblical faith is more than agreeing with certain truths about God or Jesus. It is a wholehearted response to who He is. God does not desire a portion of our attention, our Sundays, or the margin we can spare. He calls us to love Him with everything we have.
This chapter is practical because it moves from theology into ordinary routines. God’s commands are to be talked about when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. In other words, discipleship happens in the middle of everyday life. Faith is formed around dinner tables, during conversations, on morning commutes, in moments of correction, through decisions about money and work, and in the heart’s quiet thoughts.
We often imagine that spiritual growth requires extraordinary experiences, but the Bible teaches us to recognize opportunities for worship, praise, devotion, and the sacred potential of ordinary moments. The goal is not to find more time for God, but to learn to live every moment consciously before Him.
The Scriptures also warn us here about one danger of prosperity: forgetting. Moses tells Israel that when they enter a land of abundance, possess good houses, enjoy plenty, and experience success, they must take care lest they forget the LORD. This remains so relevant today. Hardship can drive us toward God, but comfort can quietly persuade us that we no longer need Him. Success can make us self-sufficient; abundance can make us spiritually forgetful. We need to be intentional about remembrance. We must regularly think on what God has done, give thanks for what we have received, and acknowledge that even our abilities, opportunities, and resources are ultimately gifts from Him.
Perhaps the deepest lesson, though, is that love for God must become a way of life we pass on to others. Parents are instructed to teach their children, not just through formal lessons, but through continual conversation and examples. Our lives inevitably teach the next generation what we truly value. Children, friends, coworkers, and communities learn not only from what we say about God but from what our priorities reveal about Him. If we say God is first but consistently give our best energy to status, money, entertainment, or approval, our lives may preach something different from our words.
This week calls us back to a simple but necessary vision: know God, love God, remember God, and build a life that continually points others toward Him. The Christian life is not sustained by occasional spiritual enthusiasm but by daily remembrance and faithful obedience. We can begin today by asking a few honest questions: What occupies my deepest affection? What has success or comfort caused me to forget? Where can I intentionally bring God into my ordinary conversations and decisions? And what is my life teaching those around me about what matters most? Deuteronomy 6 reminds us that loving God is the foundation for a truly ordered, blessed life.