Deuteronomy 6 could be seen as the heart of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible; the Law of Moses). It is well worth revisiting. Here we are repeatedly commanded to listen to, to obey, to honour and to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and strength. We are told never to forget his commandments and to build constant reminders of them into our lives. The word "obey" is found about 30 times in this book; more than in any other book in the whole Bible, including the Psalms.

And why are we to obey his commandments? Because our obedience honours Him and pleases Him and because we belong to Him. He rescued us from slavery and freed us from Satan's prison by his great power. He has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ, just as he would give prosperous cities, furnished houses, wells, vineyards and olive groves to his people without any contribution from them. His commandments are our very life; they sustain and renew us.

And why are we to worship Him alone? Because he is always present with us and tolerates no rivals. We are to make sure we do not forget Him. That is easier to do than we might think and that is why it is underlined in this chapter. We can be so taken up with what Jesus called "the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things", with our careers, and even with our ministries, that Jesus gets crowded out.

And why are our lives to be centred on God? So that we can teach his ways and what he is like to our children and grandchildren; to the next generation. We can model the father-heart and mother-heart of God to them throughout our lives and always be there for them even when they reach adulthood. We can weave his commandments into everyday life; showing how wonderfully relevant they are regarding all the important issues. We can help our children and grandchildren to know that God is for them and has wonderful plans for their lives; that his commandments are not burdensome and that he wants to give them the desires of their hearts.