 Throughout my life I have increasingly found that reading Scripture in public is not just about feeding our own spirits and minds, but about rehearsing the mighty acts of God for God's glory. So let's think together about Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 and 5. But first we're going to need some tea. Here O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. This passage is known as the Shema prayer, because the first word here O Israel, the Hebrew for here is Shema, which means here and obey, not obey in some outward sense only, but here and let this word sink down into who you really are, so that it forms you, so that your obedience comes as it says, from the heart. It's kind of odd for us because this is a prayer, but it sounds to us initially as though it's a doctrinal or a creedal statement. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. It's actually difficult to translate that passage. In Hebrew it's Shema Yisrael, here O Israel, Adhanai Eloheinu Adhanai Echad, very simple and stark. The Lord our God, the Lord one. And the point is the uniqueness of Israel's God. Israel's God is not one in a sequence, so that all the nations have their gods and Israel has a God too, and that's all there is to it. Adhanai Eloheinu, the Lord our God, he is the only genuine God, he is the only real one. Monotheism has had a bad press in our world because people now rather associate it with arrogant power structures of people who say because we know the true God we are going to tell you exactly what to do and going to impose our rule upon you. But the point of this confession of faith, this prayer which Israel is given to form and shape the people so that they will be able to inherit God's promises. This is a prayer about a God in whose image humans are made, a God whom to worship is not to constrict you or to squash you or to make you simply the victim, but a God who enlivens you, a God who says therefore please have this in your heart, in your mind, the word here translated soul is the Hebrew nephesh, which is your life. This is the prayer to which Jesus referred when people asked him which was the great commandment in the law. And as we may see on other occasions, this is the prayer which informs the spirituality of Jews in the first century and out beyond. Indeed, famously Rabbi Akibah, one of the greatest rabbis of the early second century AD, was so used to praying this prayer day by day, that even when he was being tortured to death, he went on praying this prayer. And some of his followers said to him, how can you be praying this prayer at a time like this? And he said, all my life I have served the Lord our God and I have loved him with my heart and I've loved him with my strength. But I always wondered what it would mean to love him with my life. And he went on praying the prayer until finally as they tortured him, he died with the word echad on his lips. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Because this prayer is a statement of loyalty. It's a pinning of one's flag on God's map or rather recognizing that God has made himself known in our life, in our map. And therefore it's something which for those who follow Jesus, as well as those in ancient Israel who are doing what Moses told them, it's to be taught in families. It's to be taught to children. It's to be talked about in going about one's daily business, in getting up in the morning and going to bed at night. That's how the passage continues. And I've sometimes wondered whether Paul himself, Saint Paul, who quotes this prayer and modifies it in the direction of Jesus, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Jesus is inserted into that prayer so that for Paul in 1 Corinthians 8, it's for us there is one God, the Father and one Lord, Jesus Christ. I wonder whether Paul was like Akibah praying this prayer as he waited for his own execution, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. That single-minded, whole-hearted devotion to God, God's word, God's ways, God's laws. Not as an external thing, but as something which goes down and transforms you from deep inside. That is the heart of Christian spirituality, as it was the heart of the spirituality of ancient Israel. And it all comes down to this word here, pay attention, let this word sink down and transform you from within. So we pray, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord give you strength to follow him, be loyal to him and to understand and know him all the days of your life. Amen. How is this passage speaking to you? Let us know in the comments, like and subscribe or check out our other videos.