What’s On Your Head?

Psalm 119:11 (NIV) ~ I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

We are still studying Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table, by Louie Giglio.  One of the things he emphasizes a lot is the importance of fighting off temptation and harmful thoughts with scripture.  As I study this subject, I am reminded just how important it is to memorize and know God’s word.  Knowing the scripture is the only way we can recognize when the enemy tries to lie to us.  We must follow Christ’s example when He was being tempted.  He did not mull over the words that Satan said to Him. He did not think, “Well, maybe.”  He immediately refuted everything Satan said to Him with the truth from God’s word.  There are so may truths that can help us move forward in the abundant life that God has for us, if we can just keep them in the forefront of our mind. 

Last night when we were discussing the importance of keeping those truths prominent in our lives, my husband shared that in the Jewish culture they wear scripture on their foreheads.  I had never heard of that before.  I decided to go on a Google search.  I know AI is kind of scary, but Google AI is the bomb!!!  I discovered that the Israelites wear what is called a Tefillin on their forehead during morning prayer.  It is “two black leather boxes with straps which are put on by adult Jews for weekday morning prayers, and are worn on the forehead and upper arm and contains hand-written parchment scrolls with passages from the Torah, specifically Exodus 13:1-10, 13:11-16; and Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:12-21.”  This concept is fascinating to me.  I have always been envious of the traditions that the Jewish people follow in their devotion to God.  I know sometimes traditions can be burdensome, but I view most of their traditions as a beautiful outward expression of their loyalty to Yahweh.  This particular tradition is a physical representation of what we all should be doing.  I can recall times when I wished I could open my brain and just pour in God’s word and close it really fast so it wouldn’t fall out. 

Regardless of how we do it, memorizing scripture or being able to speak God’s words back to our enemy is our only weapon.  All the other pieces of the armor of God are used for defense.  The sword of truth, which is God’s word, is the one weapon we should carry and use on a regular basis.  The abundant life Christ died for is hidden in this truth!  As we learned last night, Christ has already given us the VICTORY, we just have to walk in it!