What is The Shema and why is it important?   by Subhakar T

in Spirituality / Religion    (submitted 2012-02-08)

The Shema is an important commandment for Jewish people. It is the word given by the Lord to Israelis when they came out of the bondage of Egypt and were on their way to the Promised Land. God knows everyone's weaknesses and that is why He gave The Shema to His children so that they can always be closer to God. The Shema is written in Deuteronomy Chapter 6: 4-9, asking people to love the Lord with all their heart and mind as the God of Israel is one God. Moreover, God commands people to teach The Shema to their children so that newer generations will understand the power and God.

The Importance of The Shema
God asks people to meditate upon His word every day and every moment. This is because people tend to receive blessings from the Lord and forget God after some time. Reading the word of God everyday keeps you closer to God and overcome issues troubling you every day. If you look into the life of Daniel, he was taken as a captive to Babylon, along with other people. In the foreign land he, along with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, followed The Shema with all his heart. He used to pray to God thrice every day, without fail. God has blessed Daniel and placed him as the highest official in the Babylonian kingdom.

Daniel colleagues did not like this development. They were waiting to find fault in his behavior but were unsuccessful. The only thing they identified is that Daniel holds The Shema very high. So they requested the King to make a decree that everyone should worship the king for one month. Daniel knew this decree. However, he continued to pray to the Almighty God as he knew how powerful the Lord is. He knows the importance of The Shema and practiced it always. When the king ordered his men to throw Daniel into the lion's den, Daniel did not panic and kept faith in the Almighty God. Not even a single lion attacked Daniel and this was a great miracle. When Daniel was taken out of the den in the morning, all the Babylonians were astonished at this miracle. Later the king issued a decree saying that the Lord of Daniel is the real God and everyone should worship the real God. When one person stood for the Lord, an entire nation came to the feet of the Lord. That is why God gave The Shema to His children and asked everyone to read His word every day so that people will be empowered to overcome every issue.

About the Author

Subhakar T is a born again christian. He shares the word of God on various christian blogs. To know more about topics like The Shema, visit http://christian-way.com/