Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Prayer Focus: Next, it was time to select a text for our first scripture reading on Youth Sunday. High school youth were particularly drawn to the question of what it means to follow a “commandment.” They wisely pointed out that this “new” commandment from Jesus in John 13 actually isn’t new at all! The commandment to love God and love others is foundational to the Jewish law and it’s all over the Old Testament. So, according to the Old Testament, what does it actually look like to follow a commandment? In Deuteronomy 6:6-9, God reminds Israel of their foundational identity as God’s people and commands them to love God with everything they have. God tells them to put reminders of the commandment everywhere, so that no matter where they go and what they are going, they will not forget it. What would it look like for us to have reminders everywhere of Jesus’ commandment for us to love one another? What reminders do we already have in our lives that alert us and redirect us to this commandment when we stray away?