Hear, O Israel: Yehovah our Elohim, Yehovah is one. You shall love Yehovah your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words which I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4–9
This passage has been memorized by the people of Israel throughout history and continues to be recited to this day. It is the first declaration spoken upon waking and the last before going to sleep—a beautiful way of keeping this commandment continually before one’s heart. It has also become the final confession of many faithful believers at the moment of death, a testimony to its enduring significance.
When this passage speaks of love, it is not referring merely to emotional expressions or affectionate words. As Yeshua explained, genuine love is demonstrated through obedience:
He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me.
John 14:21)
If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.
John 14:23
The Shema teaches us how that obedience is to be lived: with all our heart, with all our being, and with all our strength. This raises an important question: Does our obedience reflect that kind of wholehearted devotion?
That is the expression of love Yehovah desires far more than repeatedly singing, “I love You, I love You, I love You,” to the rhythm of any melody, whether in a congregation or in private. Such expressions are not necessarily wrong, but by themselves they are incomplete. Love without obedience falls short of the biblical definition.
Obedience to the Instructions -Torah- given by Yehovah is the sure path that keeps us on the narrow road leading through the narrow gate into the Kingdom, a gate that, as Yeshua said, few find.
Perhaps you wonder which commandments you are called to obey. The answer is simple: every commandment found in the Scriptures that applies to your circumstances.
The ritual commandments reached their intended fulfillment when the Messiah offered Himself as the voluntary sacrifice to which they pointed. Shortly afterward, Yehovah permitted the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, and for nearly two thousand years He has not allowed it to be rebuilt. Since the Torah was given, this has been the longest period in which the Temple has remained in ruins. Yet the rest of His commandments remain fully relevant today—including His appointed times, memorials, and every instruction governing our relationship with Yehovah, our fellow human beings, and the care of His creation. His commandments are not burdensome; they have never been presented as a curse to His people.
The second part of the Shema entrusts us with another great responsibility: to teach the next generation. Psalm 78 declares:
He established a testimony in Ya’akov and appointed a Torah in Isra’el, which He commanded our fathers to make known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, even the children yet to be born, who would arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their confidence in Elohim and not forget the works of El, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers—a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast and whose spirit was not faithful to El.
Psalm 78:5–8
This passage reaffirms the responsibility parents have toward their children. It is a task entrusted primarily to parents—not to pastors, and certainly not to schools. Yehovah’s design for the family has never changed. The husband is to live in submission to Yeshua, who equips him to protect and lead his household in every area of life. This includes providing spiritual and physical care, wise counsel, discipline, instruction, godly example, and everything needed to help those under his care fulfill the purpose Yehovah has for them.
Do you wonder where to begin?
Start by setting apart the Shabbat. This is the time Yehovah has graciously given us, first to be with Him, and then to be with our families—to know them, disciple them, and prepare them for the days ahead.
It is during these weekly Shabbats that our minds are gradually opened to the light of revelation that comes from our Father and Creator. As that happens, we grow in joyful, wholehearted obedience, fulfilling the timeless words of the Shema:
You shall love Yehovah your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.