The Shema was a part of daily life for the ancient Jews. Its repetition served a purpose. It was a formative practice. Something was supposed to happen in them as the words took root: a way to see the world around them and the choices they made in everyday life as an opportunity to respond to the love God had shown them.

They were to respond to love with love. Love from God with love for God. And in reciting the Shema they were rehearsing what it meant to love God with all of their lives, with all of their hearts, their souls, and their strength. This was at the core of what it meant to live in faithfulness to the covenant that God had invited them into.