Focus and Remember

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This passage is called the shema and it is a centerpiece in the Jewish faith.  It has traditionally been recited as a daily prayer and reminds the faithful of who God is, what God has done for the people, and how to respond.  The Lord has brought the people out of Egypt and into the land of Israel. (6:10-11)  The Lord has been faithful and fulfilled the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  What the Lord asks for is to be loved and not to forget.  The Lord asks of us to focus our lives on God and not forget the many blessings we have received from God.

It is all too easy to get distracted in life and forget the things that truly matter.  We can get caught up in our daily stress and grind and fail to give thanks.  We become consumed with the details and decisions, awash with anxiety and we forget to make God the center.  The shema is a clarion call to repent and return.  It is simple to understand but hard to live out.  Making God the center of our lives and not forgetting, is spiritually difficult but has the potential to transform our lives.  The ancient Israelites understood this.  The shema became the center of their prayer life and they were given instructions on how to pass the faith on to their children and future generations (6:6-9).  We need these same reminders today.  We need the shema as part of our daily spiritually discipline.  We need to focus and remember.