"You shall write them on the doorposts of your house"

Does what we do “work”? We create physical products to remind people of the invisible war. But to be honest, I was well into creating these products when I realized both how biblical and how effective this strategy is. I think I was about two months into this work when my slow little brain connected the concept to Deuteronomy 6:4-9, what the Jews refer to as the Shema. 

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6: 4-9

God commanded the Israelites to use physical reminders of His law. There is some debate as to if God wanted the Israelites to literally do this, or if He was just telling them to take it very seriously, and to consistently inundate themselves with His commands. We do see that in Jesus’ day, the literal interpretation was still being followed, as He says this of the scribes and the Pharisees.  “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments” (Matthew 23:5). 

Notice where God commands His people to post reminders, on their gates and doorframes, those things which they routinely pass by. They would have passed by their entrances more often than us, who leave for work for 8-10 hours at a time, while the Israelites who mostly worked their own land would have been in and out of their gates and houses all day. All day long they are confronted with the law, by the standard of God. They were to teach their children of Him by any and all means, in the morning and in the evening, and these physical reminders were a critical component of that, always bringing the Lord to the forefront of their mind. 

Many Jews still practice this, more out of tradition than godly purposes, by hanging a Mezuzah on their doorpost. A mezuzah is a small box or container that Jews nail to their doorpost, which contains verses from the Torah, usually the Shema. 

One warning I did want to disclose before I close, in case you missed what Jesus was directly stating. This very good, very righteous action of setting scripture before ourselves had become yet another way that men practice righteousness “to be noticed by men”. Maybe you are very quiet and shy and not adjusted to displaying your faith, and posting scripture on your clothing and around your home or apartment is a good and healthy stretch for you. But maybe, you are like me in the bible belt, a “Christian” community, where it can be just another way we subconsciously desire to give the illusion we are walking closer than we actually are. The Pharisees literally broadened their phylacteries so that their righteousness would stand out. As the worst sales person in the world, I’m telling you, don’t buy or wear our gear if it's part of a game you're playing. The worst place to be is among the many who think they are in good standing with God because of outward appearances, but inwardly they are far from God.