And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a terrible memory when it comes to anything but numbers. If I’m supposed to be somewhere at a certain time, it needs to be on my calendar or I’ll forget. To-do lists keep me from forgetting what tasks need to be completed and there due date…

In this passage, as Moses instructs the people of Israel, God is also instructing us. Put plainly, we are to do whatever it takes to remember what The Lord has commanded us at all times. And because of our obedience, God promised in turn that “our days will be long.” Not simply because we’ve checked off a checklist of things to-do or not do. But because God’s desire and plans for our lives are to “prosper us” and to “give us a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). His plans and instruction will keep us from those things that place His desires for us in jeopardy…