Filling in What Has Been Missing

Share Now

Near the end of Deuteronomy, Moses gave a charge to some of the priests, telling them to assemble the Israelites every seven years. He told them that the assembly should include the Israelite men, women, and children, plus the people who were not Israelites but who were living in their towns. Moses told the priests to read the law in front of all of them.

The purpose of the reading was this:

That they may hear and learn
and fear the Lord your God
and be careful to observe all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 31:12

By this time, God had already told the Israelites more than once that they should teach their children to follow Him. However, God knew that they wouldn’t follow through on this as they should. In the verse following the one above, Moses went on to say:

Their children, who have not known,
will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God . . .
Deuteronomy 31:13

Why wouldn’t those children know? They should have known. God told the parents to teach them, but parents miss things. They fail. They get sidetracked. They lose focus on what is most important. Can there be an honest mama anywhere who hasn’t known this to be true about herself?

So, what does the wise mama do when she realizes that she has not been as diligent as she should have been? She repents and tries again.

Satan wants mamas and daddies to believe that they have failed irreversibly and that there is nothing they can do about it. He wants them to give in and give up.

God wants us to believe the opposite. When Peter messed up really badly by denying Jesus three times before the rooster crowed twice, he went out and wept bitterly. A few days later, Jesus was telling him to tend His sheep.

Your flock of sheep still needs to be tended even after you’ve messed up. They need you to fill in what has been missing. God is counting on you to do it! Don’t let Satan tell you otherwise.

Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
John 21:12b

Share Now