Saturate: The Filling of our Lives
(Deuteronomy 4:6-9) We continue the Shema as God tells us how to saturate ourselves with Him.
I remember the youth group explosion in the 90’s.
Back then, being saturated with God meant listening to the right music, wearing cool tees, and going to Christian camps. Some of it felt hollow, though I knew the intentions were in the right place.
The more I read the Scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to shape my understanding of God, the more I’ve noticed the weird things we assume help us feel or know God’s presence.
Can God use summer camps and Christian rock concerts to help people know Him? Sure. But there’s something more radical, more simple, and more necessary for knowing God…
These words, which I am commanding you today, are to be on your heart. You are to teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. Bind them as a sign on your hand, they are to be as frontlets between your eyes, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 4:6-9
It’s a common practice to this day for Jewish households to fasten these verses, handwritten on a miniature scroll, upon their doorposts. This literally fulfills the command, and it shows how close they hold the Shema to their hearts.
God wants His words to be…
- on our hearts at all times
- passed on to our families
- spoken of wherever we are, in whatever situation
- remembered and lived 24/7
- saturated into each nook and cranny of our lives
In the New Testament, Jesus tells us we cannot live spiritually, fruitful lives unless we “remain in Him.” And at the beginning of John’s Gospel, he refers to Jesus as the “Word of God.”
Saturating ourselves with God and abiding in Christ—according to the Shema—are daily, intentional pursuits. It’s a conscious effort to savor, to remember, and to recall His words as we love in response.
We all get to fill our lives with something. Let’s saturate ourselves with God and His words.
Oh, and for those in Florida…we all need some beach / poolside time right about now 🥵. I need to saturate some waves.
Oh, how I wish I were this baby Harp seal basking in wintry coolness upon a pillow of snow…
🔥Never miss a daily-dab of Bible goodness! Sign up for the free newsletter by hitting Subscribe.