These commandments that I give you today…
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 - Understanding God’s Word is writing that Word on your heart; living God’s Word is teaching the generations by example.
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“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 6:6-7 NIV
Today we head all the way back to the book of Deuteronomy, the final book of the Jewish Torah and the book in which the death of Moses is chronicled. At this point, Moses is delivering sermons to the Israelites on the Plains of Moab just prior to the entry (finally!) to the Promised Land.
The two verses captured here are quite important. Moses has just spoken the Shema Yisrael (literally “Hear, Israel”), a statement of Jewish identity that ties the people to God — “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV). These words were repeated by Jesus in Mark 12:29, when He describes them as The Great Commandment.
Moses is reminding the Israelites (and all Christians) that God’s Words should dictate our behavior. It’s not enough to just to just read and study them, or even memorize them. Moses is telling them that they need to understand and internalize the commandments of God, “writing them on their hearts” as it were. From Precept Austin:
Head knowledge without a willingness to submit in one's heart is sheer hypocrisy and describes perfectly the Pharisees who knew the word in their head but hated Jesus, the divine manifestation of that Word (cf Jn 1:1+, Jn 1:14+, Rev 19:13+)! The heart is the "control center" of our being and is where God's Words need to be located for quick access and to allow the Spirit to bring them to our mind in times of temptations or trials. Clearly the best way to obey this instruction is to memorize God's Word. The classic passage Psalm 119:11 says "Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee." Clearly when the Word is internalized in one's heart, it is available for guiding one's heart to provide a protection from sinning against God. Closely linked with Memorization is Meditation so that one is able to "chew on" a passage when it has been hidden in his heart.
and also:
In the context of the preceding passages that call for Israel's obedience to the Word of God, clearly when God's Word is on one's heart, it will be far more like to guide one's steps and keep one from turning to the right or left.
Next, Moses goes on to emphasize the importance of passing along the commandments to the next generation. A little word study here: the section that is translated here as “Impress them on your children” can be more literally translated as “engrave” or “teach incisively” from the Hebrew word שָׁנַן (šānan). How does a parent or teacher of the Word do that? By talking “about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” In other words, at all times and in all situations.
Once again from Precept Austin (citing the Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible):
The commandments are not automatically taught to children. Educating children is an absolute necessity. And note: education is not just teaching facts and principles, not just passing along information. Teaching is experiencing the truth personally, living out the truth before the children. It is applying the truth of the commandments to one's heart and experiencing the truths within one's own life. The children then see the truth of the commandments lived before their very eyes, and they absorb the truth, pick it up automatically. The truth becomes a part of their lives. This is exactly what Moses was preaching: the believer was constantly to talk about the commandments when he sat at home, when he walked along the road throughout the day, when he laid down, and when he got up. The whole thrust is that he was to live by the commandments, experience them, obey them, and set the dynamic example before his children.
Personally, I have found it very difficult for my old brain to memorize God’s Word verbatim. That’s why both of us spend much more time reading and analyzing God’s Word than trying to fill our brains with book, chapter, verse and words. Understanding God’s Word is writing that Word on your heart; living God’s Word is teaching the generations by example.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank You for Your eternal Word, filled with wisdom and instructions for all generations. I pray that in all of my actions, attitudes, motives, and words — both internal and external — I always reveal a heart on which is written Your commandments. I especially pray today for the younger generation, which is besieged by attacks on the Word of God, that they may learn Your truth and commandments and live righteous lives. I pray this in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
Precept Austin was accessed on January 31, 2026 for commentary on Deuteronomy 6:6-7
“Deuteronomy 6 (NIV) - These commandments that I give.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 31 Jan, 2026.