Is That All You Ever Talk About??

[speerjp1]

Deuteronomy 6:7 says "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Wow.

It seems like there would be very little time to talk about anything besides the things of God. More specifically, there would be little time to talk of anything other than the commandments of God. When folks sit in the house during the day or in the evening, they should be talking of the commandments of God. When folks are walking, they should take advantage of the time and talk about the commandments of God. When they lie down in the evening before sleeping, before they say "good night," they should talk once more of the commandments of God. When they wake up in the morning and gather around the breakfast table, they should talk of the commandments of God.

So much could be said regarding communication in the home in light of this verse and the surrounding passage of scripture. Primarily, there should be communication. It is amazing to me how little some folks communicate within the four walls of their home. We should talk one with another. We should listen to one another. This is assumed in God's word. To tolerate failure of communication in the home is to allow a gross example of Christ and His church to be put on display before one's own children or family and friends or even lost onlookers who so desperately need to see a true example of the glorious relationship that should exist between a Savior and His redeemed.

Okay, so what does one need to talk about? The tendency is to talk about mundane things. Temporary, tangible, physical, material, and consumable things. In other words, it seems to be the norm to converse with one another about the topics that bring the most distress to the average person and to the average marriage: money, work, chores, or human relationships. But what is most needful? We, by virtue of Biblical command, should talk about the commandments of God. There is no other topic in the Bible which carries the command to be the topic of our conversations constantly. Not just the Decalogue, but the whole of the commands of the Bible should be learned, discussed, and OBeyed (all in proper context, of course.) We would be most likely to OBey commands that are consistently before us as the focus of our attention. In order for them to be so constantly in our minds and on our hearts, we must talk of them in accordance with Deuteronomy 6:7.

But why is it so important?

John 14:15 says "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

PRACTICE: Talk specifically about the commands of God to his people. Be honest about your fulfillment of them both individually and as a family. Make necessary adjustments in order keep God's commands.

Experiment: For one day, purpose to not talk about any unnecessary mundane things. Instead, consciously spend the time discussing a given command for Christians and how well it is being followed in your home.

[JerryNumbers]

Most of us humans would rather gossip or talk about the latest soap opera or movie.

[His by Grace]

sheepjp1, Thank you for such a honest, simply written yet very important topic! and

[blossom]

Speerjp1 that is quite a challenge!

[Anon]

My biggest prOBlem isn't what I talk about...but that I talk at all! I find I get so busy doing my own thing I don't communicate with my children as I ought.

[JerryNumbers]

We've let the world steal and set our priorities.

[1Timothy115]

speerjp1 Amen! I'm with you...

2 Timothy 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

I spoke with my sister-in-law the other day, very briefly. She had gone back to work after knee replacement surgery. While covering the phone, my wife said, "she went back to work today." So, I said what's work, loud enough I knew she would hear. Her reply, "It's a four letter word."

Why didn't I say, "Praise God, I've been praying for you?"

I babbled...and my sister-in-law's reply proves scripture again, "more ungodliness."

[speerjp1]

My biggest prOBlem isn't what I talk about...but that I talk at all! I find I get so busy doing my own thing I don't communicate with my children as I ought.

It seems to be a pretty widespread dilemma. I know in my own home, if we get distracted by the mundane, then we lose sight of the more needful things.

As I read the scripture, it struck me that the presence of frequent communication in the home is assumed by God's word.

[John81]

This is a part of putting God first in all things. As Scripture says, we are to seek His kingdom first, we are to be in constant prayer; etc.

I fall terribly short, but I try to make it a point to relate even seemingly mundane, normal things and conversation to the Word of God or God Himself. Sometimes this may take the form of, "the Bible says____ about such as this", or "that's why Scripture says____", "this is why God____".

My youngest son has heard me refer to God and Scripture so much with regards to the weather that last year while we were in a Wal-Mart on a day that had been cloudy and rainy, when suddenly the store lit up bright and we looked up and the sun had come out and was shining through the skylights, my youngest son said, "Look Dad, God sent the clouds away." Perhaps not a huge theological moment, but it means my son is listening, he does believe God is in control of the weather and he recognizes such.

My most difficult times with this topic is when I'm sick or very tired. It seems then I have a hard time focusing my mind or even carrying on conversation.

God calls us to the highest of standards. Some Christians take the route that since we can't meet those standards we shouldn't try too hard and then look bad when we fail. However, while Scripture acknowledges we can't reach perfection in this life, Scripture yet calls us to pursue holiness, to be perfect as He is perfect. We are to ever move towards that rather than slipping backwards or attempting to sit in neutral.

Great thread Speer!

[speerjp1]

God calls us to the highest of standards. Some Christians take the route that since we can't meet those standards we shouldn't try too hard and then look bad when we fail. However, while Scripture acknowledges we can't reach perfection in this life, Scripture yet calls us to pursue holiness, to be perfect as He is perfect. We are to ever move towards that rather than slipping backwards or attempting to sit in neutral.

Great thought!!

We should ever be pressing forward for the Glory of God.

[irishman]

Deuteronomy 6:7 says "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Wow.

It seems like there would be very little time to talk about anything besides the things of God. More specifically, there would be little time to talk of anything other than the commandments of God. When folks sit in the house during the day or in the evening, they should be talking of the commandments of God. When folks are walking, they should take advantage of the time and talk about the commandments of God. When they lie down in the evening before sleeping, before they say "good night," they should talk once more of the commandments of God. When they wake up in the morning and gather around the breakfast table, they should talk of the commandments of God.

So much could be said regarding communication in the home in light of this verse and the surrounding passage of scripture. Primarily, there should be communication. It is amazing to me how little some folks communicate within the four walls of their home. We should talk one with another. We should listen to one another. This is assumed in God's word. To tolerate failure of communication in the home is to allow a gross example of Christ and His church to be put on display before one's own children or family and friends or even lost onlookers who so desperately need to see a true example of the glorious relationship that should exist between a Savior and His redeemed.

Okay, so what does one need to talk about? The tendency is to talk about mundane things. Temporary, tangible, physical, material, and consumable things. In other words, it seems to be the norm to converse with one another about the topics that bring the most distress to the average person and to the average marriage: money, work, chores, or human relationships. But what is most needful? We, by virtue of Biblical command, should talk about the commandments of God. There is no other topic in the Bible which carries the command to be the topic of our conversations constantly. Not just the Decalogue, but the whole of the commands of the Bible should be learned, discussed, and OBeyed (all in proper context, of course.) We would be most likely to OBey commands that are consistently before us as the focus of our attention. In order for them to be so constantly in our minds and on our hearts, we must talk of them in accordance with Deuteronomy 6:7.

But why is it so important?

John 14:15 says "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

PRACTICE: Talk specifically about the commands of God to his people. Be honest about your fulfillment of them both individually and as a family. Make necessary adjustments in order keep God's commands.

Experiment: For one day, purpose to not talk about any unnecessary mundane things. Instead, consciously spend the time discussing a given command for Christians and how well it is being followed in your home.

I too like that thought speerjp1, it goes along with another outline I had made a few years ago; there are, in fact, many verses that tell us that we ought to keep our minds (thoughts) on Christ all the day long, and every day. I wrote an article about it that we clutter our lives with too much "business" of this world , and not enough of the "good part" (as Mary did in Luke 10:40-42). In fact, that was one of my texts for the article.
Isa. 26:3 implies keeping our minds on Christ; Phil. 4:8 is pretty clear that Christ meets all the requirements of what we ought to dwell on; and Luke 9:60 puts things in the proper perspective; this was my main text, "Let the dead bury their dead..." There is a world of good stuff in that one sentence.

Thanks for the good thoughts.

[JerryNumbers]

I too like that thought speerjp1, it goes along with another outline I had made a few years ago; there are, in fact, many verses that tell us that we ought to keep our minds (thoughts) on Christ all the day long, and every day. I wrote an article about it that we clutter our lives with too much "business" of this world , and not enough of the "good part" (as Mary did in Luke 10:40-42). In fact, that was one of my texts for the article.
Isa. 26:3 implies keeping our minds on Christ; Phil. 4:8 is pretty clear that Christ meets all the requirements of what we ought to dwell on; and Luke 9:60 puts things in the proper perspective; this was my main text, "Let the dead bury their dead..." There is a world of good stuff in that one sentence.

Thanks for the good thoughts.

True, if we keep our mind of Christ so that it will never get in the gutter. When our mind gets in the gutter, to many things enter in that should be kept out. Sad to say I need a delete key in the worse way in order to get rid of stuff I should have never let in. Though if I had kept my mind where it should have been, most of it would never have gotten in.

I'm thankful for speerjp1 posting this topic to, for it along with another topic posted gave me a great idea for a sermon.

[lettheredeemedsayso]

True, if we keep our mind of Christ so that it will never get in the gutter. When our mind gets in the gutter, to many things enter in that should be kept out. Sad to say I need a delete key in the worse way in order to get rid of stuff I should have never let in. Though if I had kept my mind where it should have been, most of it would never have gotten in.


I'm thankful for speerjp1 posting this topic to, for it along with another topic posted gave me a great idea for a sermon.

Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.