“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.” Deuteronomy 6.1-3

The Church in America continues to wring its hands over the loss of its youth to the temptations of our sensual and materialistic age. Not a Christian parent sends his or her child to college without the fear that the young person might lose his faith over the next four years. And the statistics support such a fear.

At the same time, the growth of the evangelical Church in America is not keeping pace with the growth rate of the population as a whole. While millions profess faith in Jesus Christ, their ranks, as a proportion of the overall population, are in decline.

It is not insignificant that these problems have occurred in a generation of believers who demonstrate little interest in or concern about the Law of God. God promises that, where His Law is faithfully taught and obeyed, His precious and very great promises (2 Pet. 1.4) – symbolized in our text by the land – will be the possession of children and grandchildren and for the generations to come. Fruitfulness in God’s Law leads to multiplication of God’s people over time.

We have seen how that can easily be so. In homes where the Law of God rules, steadfast love and faithfulness, blessing, nurture and affirmation, purity, fruitfulness, and confident witness are much more likely to be the norm than where that Law is neglected.

God intends His people to establish their homes on the sure foundation of His Word, beginning with His Law, realized and enjoyed through faith in Jesus Christ.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.