Devotional: Daddy Talk

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

After entering seminary I would occasionally read about families have a regularly scheduled worship time. Also, I would hear other students talk about a scheduled “quiet time.” This was puzzling to me. In my family we did not have a regularly scheduled family worship time. I suppose that we had a regular prayer time. We were taught to kneel down at night and say our prayers before getting into the bed. Daddy always said blessing and the children recited a bible verse before eating. I thought about this often, and I asked, “Why did we not have a regularly scheduled family worship time? I could not find in the bible anything about a regularly scheduled worship time. However, this is what I found and since my parents did this, maybe it explains why we did not have a regularly scheduled worship time.

At some point in my seminary training I was introduced to the “Shema” (“Hear”). “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is One! As I read through this text I discovered that this was not a command for individuals to listen for the Lord to speak to them directly. The word “hear” means that one should actively listen to the commandments of God. The question is this: “Who does the talking? According to verse seven it is the parents; especially the fathers that are to do the talking. “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” (Deut. 6:7, NASB).

I get it. Our family did not have a regularly scheduled worship time. We did not have a regularly scheduled bible study time. My mother would teach us things at anytime she sensed the need, and she frequently had a biblical reason for the things that she said. When my dad and I were in the fields together, on the river fishing and walking along the road daddy would talk to me about right and wrong things to do. Daddy, like mom, often explained things to me from a biblical perspective. Daddy never lived by the old saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Instead, daddy made a point of admitting his mistakes, point out why I should avoid them. Besides, he was not a dictator. Rather, he did his best to teach what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Prayer: Lord God, I thank you for my daddy. I thank you that daddy was there with me and for me. He taught me right from wrong according to Your holy word. Amen