“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
The Shema Yisrael is a Jewish prayer recited first thing in the morning and the last thing in the evening. It reminds people that God is one – the only God who alone is worthy of our praise. Reminding yourself that God is above all and desires our full commitment (heart, soul and strength is a great way to start your day. The prayer also reminds us of our obligation to share God’s truths with others and to take Him with us wherever we go throughout our day. God uses symbolism through the Old and New Testaments to help His people understand. He invites us to write His truths on our foreheads – that is to place them in our minds so that they are close to us whatever situation we face and decisions we must make. He also encourages us to write and bind them on our hands, the instruments we work with, to take God into our workplaces, businesses, and communities. He says to write them on our doorposts, of the place we eat, sleep, and pray, to remind us that all we have is blessed by the Almighty.
Followers of Christ should observe these instructions, so we don’t get caught up in the Babylonian attitude seeping into and destroying this world. The attitude is significantly influenced by the Dragon, the evil one, Satan. His desires suppresses, enslaves, misleads and destroys the life God intends for us. God commands us to keep His words close to us and those around us, helping us love God with our whole being and, as Jesus tells us, help us live life to the full.
The Book of Revelation shares imagery of the mark of the beast, where the evil one seeks to undermine the plans of God. “It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. Revelation 13:16-17. Satan wants us to place these marks where God tells us to put His words, His truth and his plans for us.
The world we live in, and its Babylonian influences do not offer the peace, joy, love, or hope Jesus offers. It gives us temporary, misleading sound bites of pleasure. It slowly influences us to willingly place the mark of the beast not only on our hands or foreheads but also in our hearts, souls, and strength. The way of the world will leave to the way of eternal damnation.
We can protect ourselves and our children from Babylon’s influence by reading and discussing scripture and by praying without ceasing—that is, recognizing and speaking to God throughout our day. Drop everything you are doing, declare, ” The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” and ensure God is firmly seated within your whole being.