Hear, O Israel: The LORD 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. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)
Gates are a point of entry or exit. In ancient times, gates were a meeting place where transactions were conducted, deals were sealed, and prophets cried out. The gates of a walled city were guarded by armed sentries who controlled who entered and left, and prevented invaders from entering.
Today’s Scripture passage addresses a different type of gate: the gate of our home. Who is influencing our children’s impressionable minds? Who speaks the loudest into our family’s minds and hearts?
As a Christian parent, I should be taking my role as sentry very seriously, availing myself of God’s Word as a guard over:
- My actions: Does my conduct at home reflect Jesus? How does it influence my kids?
- A guard over my words: what conversations do I hold in front of my kids? Do I praise God on Sunday but swear at my neighbor on Monday?
- A guard over my eyes: what role do entertainment, television, books, magazines, movies, and social media play in my home? Is it constructive or destructive?
- A guard over where I go (doorposts): where do I hang out?
- A guard over whoever I allow into my home (gates).
What passes through the city gates controls the city, and what passes through the gates of my home controls my household.
My question then becomes, am I ready to step up and guard the gates of my home?