19 February | Youth
«Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.» Deuteronomy 6:4, 5<
We have just entered the doors of a new year. Inside this new “home”, there are 12 empty rooms, ready to be decorated and furnished according to the resident’s taste. What do you want to do in this new year? Go back to the gym, graduate from college, start dating, get a job, set your wedding date? I imagine your list must be long. Know that it is possible to carry out all your plans. The secret is at the door.
When the people of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses ordered each family to place the words of Deuteronomy 6:4 to 9 on their doorposts. This prayer is known as Shema, the first Hebrew word for prayer and which derives from the verb shama’, which means “to hear”, “to obey”. In other words, God wanted each Israelite, as they entered and left their home, to remember that they were to love God above all things.
This custom of writing words of blessings and promises on door mantles is still followed in some cultures. Jews, for example, hang a small scroll, the mezuzah, in the right corner of their doors. Muslims, Hindus and Chinese, in turn, place special messages on doors at the beginning of the new year. Why can’t we have the same initiative this year? I suggest you do this on the mantle of your heart.
Doors mark the flow of life: comings and goings, stops and starts, opportunities and outcomes.
Throughout this year, you will certainly experience many of them – at home, at work, at college, etc. How many times will this happen? God only knows. But remember that He will be watching over you, just as the psalmist guarantees: “The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore” (Ps. 121:8).
The most important thing, however, is to write in the door mantles of your life all your love for Jesus. Only in Him is there refuge for the weary, protection for the afflicted and grace for the lost. If you have already sprinkled the blood of the Lamb on the entrance of your soul, be confident that He will be by your side at all times in this new year.