Jackie’s D’rash: What’s It Going To Take?

While reading the Torah Portion this week, I kept returning to the second reading of the Parshah. Especially verses 14-20. It talks about choosing a King to rule over the Israelites after they crossed over and possessed the land promised to them.  The King must be one of their brothers, not a foreigner. You might be asking yourself, why? The foreigner may want to multiply horses for himself and try to take the Israelites back to Egypt. God specifically told them they must never go back that way. God also said that the King should not take many wives for himself.  Now that’s interesting!   I think there would be a whole lot of jealousy and bickering going on in the Palace. I think this would be a real distraction.

Now here is the part that got my attention. The King was required to write a Torah scroll for himself and read from it every day. I did a little research and found that it could take up to a year and a half to complete the writing.  The scroll remained with him, and he would read it all the days of his life.

The Word of God is rich and full of life.  Every year of reading through the Torah cycle, I learn something new.  My eyes are open to a new mitzvah, and as I search deeper, I find there are many things that I need to change in my life. That’s what the word of God does; it makes us take an honest look at ourselves. The bible has a lot to say about reading and obeying God’s Word. Psalm 119: 1 says, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Torah of Adonai. Verse 9 of the same chapter asks this question; how can a young man keep his way pure? The answer is by guarding it according to your word. It goes on to say in verse 11, I have treasured Your word in my heart, so I might not sin against you.

Walking uprightly and just takes effort on our behalf.  There are so many distractions in the world today. Our jobs, our hobbies, TV, Facebook, and many other things keep us from reading and studying the Word of God.  Nothing wrong with any of the above, except when they replace time with God.

So here is my take away from this week’s Parshah.  Let’s all become Kings and Queens of our households. Write the word of God on your hearts, read, and study Torah every day. Watch as the word of God changes your family, your job, and your attitude.

Shabbat Shalom