Do you have God’s Word written on your forehead?

The Divine Service is the main course of a wholesome, spiritually nutritious diet. There’s nothing quite like the gathering of the saints—past and present—around Word and Sacrament. This is no ordinary meal; it’s the very Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9)!  But just as we don’t wait an entire week between eating meals, neither do God’s people limit themselves to a single serving of God’s Word per week. At best, this would leave our faith famished and malnourished. At worst, we’d starve to death! As central as the Divine Service is to our faith, it is equally vital that we let God nurture our faith all week long through daily devotions.  As Moses says in Deuteronomy 6:5–9:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Did you notice how intense Moses is here? He describes a way of life that is totally saturated with God’s Word, inside and out—to the point of what many today would consider overkill. The Word should be internal, “on your heart”, and on the hearts of our children. God’s Word is an ever-present reality on the hearts, minds, and lips of His people, not just something we read or hear once a week (or whenever we feel like coming to church). It should occupy our conversations (“Talk about them …”) and actions (“sitting” or “walking”) at all times (“when you lie down, and when you get up”).

(This is a Hebrew way of writing where opposites are used to express totality. Here, “sitting and walking” represents all human activity, and “lying and rising” indicates that all time – day, night, and everything in between— is in view.)

Taking Moses’ words at face value, some of the stricter branches of Judaism required its adherents to literally write portions of the Torah (Law) on their forehead! When I was in Israel, we spoke with a Jewish rabbi who was tying portions of the Torah on his forehead and hands as he read the Scriptures.

While Jesus never tells us whether or not we should write the Torah on our forehead or risk losing property value by engraving Hebrew words on our doorposts, the New Testament is clear about the importance of consuming God’s Word on a regular basis. As Jesus says, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Jesus’ disciples are those who abide in His Word (John 8:31), who keep their eyes fixed constantly on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), the Word made flesh (John 1:14). As the first Psalm says, the righteous are those who “delight in the Word of the Lord,” who meditate on it “day and night” (Psalm 1:2). In one of the songs in our liturgy, the Church sings, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” One serving per week just won’t cut it!

Spending time in God’s Word each day is an important part of a healthy spiritual diet. Like a multivitamin, short devotions can contain the essentials and are simple enough for young children to use, while still being edifying for even the most mature Christian. 

One of the Church’s greatest devotional treasures is her hymns. Augustine is often credited with having said, “he who sings prays twice.” If you aren’t comfortable singing, the hymns can also be spoken as prayers. Purchase a copy of Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal or even the Christian Worship Supplement from Northwestern Publishing House. The hymns in our hymnal are based on Scripture. The notes carry the words into the hearts and minds of believers. The Church’s hymns can be thought of as poetic commentaries/meditations/prayers based on the Bible, and they make a nutritious addition to any devotional diet.

In addition to hymns, Luther’s Small Catechism is another menu item on a well-balanced diet of home devotions.  In it, we find the four “food groups” of the faith: Law (Ten Commandments), Gospel (the Creed), Prayer (The Lord’s Prayer), and the Means of Grace (Holy Baptism, Absolution, and the Sacrament of the Altar). By placing Christ’s work of redemption at the center, the Small Catechism keeps the grace of God before our eyes continually (cf. Deuteronomy 6), encouraging us to repent, confess, believe, and live by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Using Martin Luther’s Small Catechism is a great tool for discussing God’s Word with your children. The Catechism isn’t just a book to be used for two years in confirmation class and then set on the shelf. It is a great tool for every day of our lives. Even Martin Luther used it every day … and he was the author!

Northwestern Publishing House

In light of Deuteronomy 6′s encouragement to impress the Word of God on our hearts, it can be helpful to make use of short, repeated sections of the hymns and Catechism in our daily devotions. This will allow God’s Word to become more firmly fixed in the heart and mind. 

Outside of the hymnal and catechism there are plenty of opportunities for you to feed your faith in daily devotions. Here are just a sampling of some resources:

·         Meditations – a daily devotional book, and you can pick up a copy in the Friendship Room.

·         Forward in Christ – a monthly magazine from the WELS, and you can also find in the Friendship Room.

·         Epiphany’s Facebook page - for daily devotions, pictures and sermons.

·         WELS Daily devotions – receive daily devotions in your email box from www.whataboutjesus.com.

·         Time of Grace devotions – receive daily devotions from www.timeofgrace.org .

·         Plus Northwestern Publishing House has plenty of devotional books and www.wels.net has lots of great materials for building up your faith.

Sometimes a steady diet of quality home devotions might seem like eating fruits and veggies. They might not be as tasty as eating bacon all the time, but it’s a lot better for you! God’s Word is always distasteful to the Old Adam (even more so than healthy food!), who can’t stand to digest God’s Word.

The angel warned St. John that his experience of eating God’s Word would be both bitter and sweet at the same time (Revelation 10:9).  God’s Word is bitter because the Law puts our sinful flesh to death, but sweet because of the new life the Gospel creates.

God’s Law shows us how helpless and needy we are, putting the Old Adam to death (not a pleasant experience!). Like the menu at fast food restaurants, there are a lot of devotional resources out there that might appeal to the Old Adam’s taste buds, but aren’t very nutritious. Sometimes they might be the equivalent of candy (empty calories), but if you’re not careful, you might accidentally ingest spiritual poison.

Daily devotions are no substitute for the weekly Divine Service. However, they are meant to supplement the quality meal you receive every Sunday/Wednesday in worship as you feast upon God’s audible and visible Word.

Spiritual health is no less important than physical health. Faith craves the most nutritious devotional resources available, which, by the grace of God, will impress His Word on our hearts and the hearts of our children. May the Holy Spirit keep you steadfast in His Word and Grace, that His Word might remain in your thoughts, on your lips, and before your eyes, now and always.

Helping to feed your faith,

Pastor Michael Zarling