Put It On Repeat
I hear a lot of people say, “Kids pick up languages so much faster than adults.” Now that I have a small child, I think one of the reasons why is because of their tendency toward repetition.
How fast would anyone learn a language if they were repeating the new words over and over and listening to the same thing a hundred times? Little kids can watch the same video 317 times and still want to watch it again. [FYI, this works really well for kids’ Youtube channels!] You can read them the same book every day for a month and they will still want you to read it again. I have to sing the same song over and over and over.
God and Moses seemed to understand this as well. Before Moses left the Israelites, he repeated back all that they had been through and this is the book we know as Deuteronomy [fun fact: “Deuteronomy” literally means “second law” ie, a repeating of the law with commentary]. And in it he encourages them to repeat it over and over.
“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-21)
The words need to be repeated so they are not forgotten. Or even though we do ‘know’ them, they need to be brought to the front of the mind. This is not just a repeating of the rules and laws but also the reasons and stories behind them and the champions that upheld them.
We have a spectacular marvel of history and revelation of God at our fingertips. There are incredible stories in there that highlight important truths which are universal and eternal. Let’s embrace repeating and re-reading God’s word so that it becomes part of the fabric of our minds.
