Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
About a year ago, I had surgery to repair a labral tear in my hip. After weeks of physiotherapy, I was finally able to walk without pain and resume my regular activities. Then, someone took a video of me walking down the sidewalk with my niece. I was shocked at what I saw. The way I walked was totally different than how I’d walked before the surgery. I wasn’t limping per se, but my stride looked a bit labored and irregular.
What I saw in that video was jarring because I didn’t feel any different. I thought I was walking exactly how I’d always walked, that my hip was finally functioning again because I was no longer in any pain. In reality, my injury, the surgery, and the recovery process changed me. I was no longer walking as I’d always walked because I’d been changed.
The Word of God is meant to change us. We’re supposed to be different than we were before we encountered it. Like the Israelites were to continually talk about it, teach it, and remember it, we also have the privilege of being fully transformed by God’s Word.
When God gave His people the law and the Ten Commandments, He wanted them to fully transform their lives. He instructed them to keep it in mind, teach it to their children, talk about it as they sat down and walked along, and post it as symbols and reminders in their homes. It was meant to transform and change everything about their hearts and lives completely.
We’ve spent the last month focusing on the truth of God’s character. We’ve taken time to discover this truth by reading it, we’ve let it sink into our hearts by writing it, we’ve committed it to memory by capturing it, and we’ve been reminded of it as we’ve carried it with us. Now that we’ve done these things, we can walk it out, letting the truth of God’s character completely transform us.
God wanted the people of Israel to look different from the nations around them, so He gave Him instructions about how they were to interact with His Word. As believers in Christ, we, too, are to look different from the world. We know the truth of who God is, and we know that He has sent His Son to save us. We have abundant life in Him!
Walking every day and remembering the truth of God’s character doesn’t necessarily mean we will physically walk differently. But it does mean that we will go about our days with transformed hearts and minds. When we’re walking in truth, we allow God’s Spirit to speak to us continually, and we’re able to face difficulty with peace and assurance because of who we’re walking with. Walking daily with the Spirit, remembering the truth we learn in God’s Word, transforms us, our families, our communities, and our world.
Go back to what you know of God’s character. Remind yourself of who He is and how He has been faithful to you.
Then walk in this truth today, walk with confidence, knowing that He is always with you, that He will never leave you, that He loves you, and that you are fully restored in Him. Let Him transform your every moment as you walk with Him.