Deuteronomy 5-6: "Sleeping and Rising"

"And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart.
And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them, sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising." (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

I found this particular passage rather profound.  Following Chapter 5 in which the Ten Commandments are reiterated, God actually stresses here that we are to have these "words" (the sacred commands) on our hearts even as we sleep!  Now, the first thought one might have is, that is impossible.  We can't control what we think about in our sleep!  Is God asking for the impossible here?  Or, perhaps we ought to analyze a bit further what this statement could imply.  Most of us believe that, to an extent, we can control what runs through our minds as we slumber.  Usually our dreams consist of interpretations of actions or thoughts we've experienced throughout the day.  What we've been doing, what we've been thinking about, will many times end up in our nocturnal musings.  If we never think about God throughout the day, or never do anything in His honor, chances are pretty slim that He will make an appearance in our dreams.  However, if we constantly pray to Him, constantly do things to honor Him, constantly have Him on our minds, chances are high that our dreams will be divinely turned.  This I believe (as well as most commentators) is what is implied in Deuteronomy 6:7.  God has not issued these sacred Commandments to be ignored or only thought of from time to time.  They are to be at the forefront of our minds always.  The Jews understood this and so would actually go to great lengths to never forget these commands -- they would attach them to their foreheads!  While I don't think such a step is necessary, we can learn from their zeal.  Many Christians think of God only once a week, at church on Sunday.  Six days a week God is far from our minds as we are consumed with work, family, TV, sleep, and other various activities.  Then on Sunday we suddenly turn our minds to God, reunite with Him, act like we've never forgotten Him, when in fact for six days we have.  From this verse in Deuteronomy I have learned my own lesson.  God needs to be placed back in His proper position at the top of my priorities.  A quick word to the original hearers, the Israelites, again echoes through the ages to land upon the ears of an unworthy follower, and its power, its profundity, is no less than on that day thousands of years ago.  It moves, it inspires just the same.

*I have been away for a while, but that is because I've been letting other, less important things run my life.  I hope that God's words in Deuteronomy 6 leave a lasting impression.  If so, I can resume my reading of the Word and plow straight ahead!