Seeing Your Belief

Who is someone you know well and look up to in the faith? You probably had a moment as you were getting to know this person where you realized how apparent the love of God was in their life. How could you see it? What about their lifestyle made you desire a deeper relationship not only with God—but also with them, perhaps as a mentor or discipler?

Further, how can you pick up that role for people in your own life…especially those within your own household?

Making His Truth Known

Family is one of the toughest mission fields to navigate. These are the people you love the most deeply yet those who see you in perhaps the closest, clearest, and brightest light. So, how can you make these gospel truths shine most brightly for those within your tightest circle of influence? How can your faith not just be something they know about you but that they can clearly see within you? Today’s verses reveal a seemingly very literal means by which we can do so. Here, Moses instructs the Israelites, “Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.”

Does this mean we should all get face and hand tattoos? Are we called to write out the Scriptures on every flat surface in and outside of our homes? Even to the point of defacing public property?

A Visible Witness

I think we know the answer to those questions is, “Not exactly.” So, instead, let’s think about what these actions are illustrating: that the Word of God is active, relevant, and authoritative in our lives. How can your family (or roommates, colleagues, and other loved ones) see its activity, relevance, and authority within you?

Are you allowing others to not merely see you toting a Bible around, but actually heeding its calls to obedience? Is its truth active through your actions, which the “sign on your hand” would represent? Do your words, thoughts, and even facial expressions demonstrate Christ’s teachings as “a symbol on your forehead?”

Further than that, are you consecrating your home and workplace for the things of the Lord? (This would be what your “doorposts” would signify as the spaces you frequent and inhabit!) Is your faith something that those around us are able visualize and witness? Are we showing our love for Jesus more by the things we abstain from or by those in which we invest our time? Is our faith visibly presented in such a way? May those who know us the most deeply see the evidence of our love for Him most visibly.

What Now?

Take a moment to reflect on the “visual signifiers” of your love for Jesus. Are your words, actions, and overall lifestyle a conduit of your faith to be seen? Ask the Lord to reveal these blind spots in your life; that you wouldn’t be a stumbling block for others but rather an open door for His grace.