Is the Following Scripture Bound on Your Forehead?

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  These words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your foreheads.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your grates" (Deut. 6:5-9)

Hey Gang:  Read it again and again and again.  Our nation is going into the dumpster because we have failed to instill Deuteronomy 6:5-9 into the hearts of our children.  Let me share a story that has been tucked away in my heart and mind for more than fifty years. 

Amos Zook, an Amishman was helping little Amos to build a rabbit hutch. Little Amos was about to begin making a contribution to the family by raising rabbits.   His neighbor, a local business man stood watching from his porch and sauntered over to see what Amos and son were doing.  When He saw they were building a rabbit hutch, he said, “Hey, Amos, they sell those at the elevator in town and probably cheaper than you can build them.”  

Amos did not hesitate in his response to the neighbor, “Well, we are in this for the long haul and the one at the elevator is probably cheaper but will fall apart and require constant attention, this one will last as long as little Amos wants to use it.  But that is not the bottom line reason for my helping little Amos build the hutch - it gives me undivided time with him and teaches him something he can use the rest of his life to earn a living.  It is called learning a work ethic.”

There was a story in the Washington Post about a woman who wanted to have a house built.  She asked her friends for names of good trust worthy contractors and one included the name of a local Amish man.  She drove to his home, for he had no car or telephone, and they discussed what she wanted included in her house.

After the discussion period was over and it was time to seal the deal she was amazed first with the price which was less than half of the other builders, and secondly that there would be no contract or written agreement but a mere hand shake to seal the deal. The most shocking thing was there would be a two year lapse in time until he could build her house.  His work schedule was booked that far ahead.

Soooo, I have a request to make from each of you.  Turn with me to the last verses of the Old Covenant and read these words with me "Behold I am going to send you Elijah, the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible days of the Lord.  He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6).   I ask you this morning - are we not deserving of a curse from God?

One last point, in my many years of working with children who were hurting inside, never, no never, did I see an Amish child in the treatment system.  (Read and heed 2 Chronicles 7:14).

Blessings,

Gramps