The Shema - An Ancient Secret to Spiritual Greatness

The word Shema (Sh’mah) is the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It means "Hear" or "Listen" in an imperative sense in these verses. The Jews recite the Shema as a statement of faith. It was faithfully practiced for thousands of years, and is still practiced today by the faithful. It is a powerful way to live each day and a daily challenge to Christians everywhere.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – "Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the Lord is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them upon 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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates."

Scriptural References
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41
New Testament: Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-37

In Mark 12:28-34, Jesus is asked by a lawyer of the Pharisees which was the greatest of all of the commandments. Jesus quoted him The Shema. The Pharisee admitted that Jesus was correct. As far as we know, this is a rare instance of agreement between Jesus and Pharisees. Our Lord Jesus Himself said The Shema was the greatest of all the commandments. Why?

The Shema is an ancient key to the truly abundant life. We don’t mean expensive cars or other things like that. We mean a truly abundant life, coming from God to us. It is there if you will take it. How does this work?

The fact is that we spend a large part of our mental activity trying to get our needs met by those people and things around us. That places a huge burden on those around us to make us feel secure, loved, happy and appreciated or even special. This is not scriptural.

By practicing The Shema daily, faithfully for even a month, you will begin to see that you are truly, actually beginning to love God with all parts of you. Your focus begins to change and you realize that you’re not as needy as you were. Then it hits you that God is meeting your needs! Jesus said it in John 14:6. He is the life. Not just after you leave this place. He is the life NOW. You begin to truly love Him and look forward to your time with Him.

Then, another amazing thing happens!! You realize that the people and things in your life ARE your abundance! You had previously used them to meet your needs, but now those are met in Christ. Now, you find that everything they do for you, even their presence in your life, is a gift! You don’t need them like you did, but this is so much better. Instead of expecting (or maybe demanding) that they meet your needs, you begin to see them as gifts and abundance from God!! What a fantastic way to live in Christ!! It eases so many tensions and pressures improperly placed by us before we understood this. The abundance was there all the time. We had it mislabeled!

Try this practice of The Shema as given in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 for a month. You won’t recognize yourself at the end of that month. What a change it can make in your life!

(Kids, don’t write on anything without your parent’s permission.)

Cardinal Beach