Don't Let Go!

            “Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in your very being. Tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead...” (Deuteronomy 11:18 CJB).

            When my husband and I were in Jerusalem, both in 2010 and 2019, we saw Orthodox Jewish men wearing small, black leather boxes called tefillin on their foreheads and non-dominant arms. Also known as phylacteries, they contain scrolls of parchment with the writing of specific passages from the Torah (first five books of the Hebrew Bible). These Jewish men are obeying God’s command in Deuteronomy 11:18.

            Thinking about this brought a question to my mind. When the storms of life hit, what is the first thing I do? Do I run to God’s Word, or do I try to figure things out myself? Each of us needs to spend some time answering those questions.

            One of the goals of Satan for the believer is to dislodge us from the Word of God. He’s been doing it since the Garden of Eden. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 NKJV).

        If the evil one can plant seeds of doubt in our mind about the veracity of God, while whispering lies at the same time, and we succumb, he wins. When satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus always answered, “It is written” and quoted from God’s Word.

            So, though we may not wear phylacteries, let’s carry God’s Word deep in our spirits.

            When the world distracts and confuses, let God’s Word shout louder

            “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ” ( 2 Corinthians 10:5 MSG).

            When we’re overwhelmed, let His Word focus us.

            “For wherever I am, though far away at the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help. When my heart is faint and overwhelmed, lead me to the mighty, towering Rock of safety” (Psalm 61:2 TLB).

            When faced with weighty decisions, let His Word lead the way.

            “I will teach you and tell you the way to go and how to get there; I will give you good counsel, and I will watch over you” (Psalm 32:8 VOICE).

            Dear God, our prayer is that You imprint Your Word deep into our innermost beings.