The Monday within the Octave of the Feast of the Holy Trinity
Posted on June 1, 2026 by under
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-15 (NKJV)
6:1 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.”
Devotion
Parents may be afraid to teach their children about the Holy Trinity, saying it is “too difficult” or “too confusing”. It is true that the nature of the Holy Trinity is too difficult, not only for children, but for even the wisest of men. And still Scripture commands: “teach them diligently to your children,” and talk about them all day. Deuteronomy says, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” and even children easily see the tension between this passage and those in the Gospels which teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God.
How does one teach children about the Holy Trinity? Begin with Baptism: Jesus commanded, “…baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). There are three Persons, each equally necessary for Baptism, and yet He says, not “names” (plural), but “in the name” (singular), to show the three are One.
Then teach the creeds. The Apostles’ and the Nicene both have one article devoted to each Person, in order to confess each One’s proper role in our salvation. Especially, expose children to the Athanasian Creed, so that they will learn by repetition: “the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.”
Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hast given unto us, Thy servants, grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech Thee, that Thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities; Who livest and reignest, One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
