Influence

Deuteronomy 6:1-15 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to influence the people around us and our culture as a whole.  But how do we gain influence?  

Influence isn't found in passing on information.  

Jesus' disciples were not influential because they were masters of Scripture--if that were the standard Jesus would have chosen the Pharisees to follow Him.  No, the disciples had experience with Jesus.  And their influence came through relaying that experience in the form of teaching, serving, and writing.  

The Book of Deuteronomy is all about reminders.  The Israelites were ready to enter the promised land and Moses had some reminders for them.  It's a collection of sermons, reminding the Israelites to listen, remember, and be faithful to the statutes and ordinances of God.  Moses wanted the people to have a good foundation.  He wanted them to have influence over the next generations.  

Today the Christian calling to be salt and light of the world begins at home.  The first and greatest missionary field is the people you share your dinner table with.  By your faithfulness to God, you lay a foundation upon which others can build by your influence.  

Think about it-how have your parents influenced you, good or bad?  

One of the greatest ways my mother influenced me was her speech.  I never heard her speak ugly about anyone else.  If she did, it was never done in front of me.  Isn't that incredible?  I'm not saying she was perfect...but her tongue was one area she did her very best to control with God's help.  I don't know anyone else like that.  Even today, when I catch myself speaking something that is less than uplifting of someone else--I think of her, and how she would be disappointed.  That's her influence. 

Beware of discouragement friends, it is one of satan's greatest tools.  He will try to convince you that you are making no impact and should simply give up.  But faithful service always results in a stronger foundation, and a stronger foundation blesses future generations.  What you do matters.  What you say matters.  

Our passion for God must be real or the people in our lives will see right through it.  

Moses understood the danger a lack of passion has on our spiritual influence.  When we fail to live out our beliefs, our faith in God takes a backseat to life's routines--and we just get caught up in the motions--and we leak that negative influence onto others.  

As Moses described ways to pass on the law of God to others, he emphasized incorporating God's promises into everyday activities.  For the Israelites, this included keeping God's Word in their hearts, repeating God's promises to others and constantly talking about them, wearing Scripture on their hands and foreheads as visual reminders and writing verses on the entrances to their homes so they were evident to all who entered. 

How does that look for us today?  Tucking the Scriptures away in our hearts, talking about them, reflecting on them, memorizing them and doing what they say. 

Being told to love God means absolutely nothing if it's not put into practice.  

Do you ever feel like you are spiritually dry?  Feel like you are spiritually malnourished?  Here's a thought....when was the last time you shared your faith?  When God's holiness and our love for Him is an integral part of who we are, living out His commands and telling others about His love and faithfulness becomes a natural overflow of our lives.  

For years I bought into the lie that people could just watch my life and learn about Jesus.  You know the old phrase "you may be the only Bible people ever read" while yes, obviously our actions do matter--we have to use words!  The early disciples did not win people to Christ with their smile.  They were bold and courageous enough to speak about Christ.  We must speak life.   

Moses' highest goal for the people was that their deep love for God abide in their hearts.  The Israelites struggled with forgetfulness.  Their pattern throughout the Old Testament was falling into sin, calling out to God, repenting of their sins, accepting God's mercy, then getting trapped in sin and forgetting about God all over again.  (sounds like us right?)  Knowing that humanity's sinfulness would lead to forgetting Him again, God established a model for remembering.  It is found here in Deuteronomy and then later called the greatest commandment by Jesus.  (Mark 12:28-30) 

Love for God springs from the very center of our beings.  If love for God is not in our hearts, then building a foundation is meaningless.  We will have nothing a true value to share with anyone.  

There is no greater legacy to leave than one that is eternal, and the only way to create such a legacy is to build it on a relationship with the eternal God.