You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [9] You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. - Deuteronomy 6:8–9 (ESV)

Messages are everywhere. We cannot escape them. Creation itself declares the glory of God. The sky is God’s canvas on which He paints an ever-changing landscape. The ground on which we stand, the grass and plants that grow, and the air we breathe all reveal the good design of an almighty God. But it is not only God who embeds messages. People do it too, in everything they make. The form of things communicates what their function ought to be, at least as intended by the developer. There are messages there.

Why does Moses say to keep Scripture in front of us at all times? It is almost certainly because we need the constant exposure. Since we are exposed to messages all the time, both implicitly and explicitly, it is wise to ensure that the messages we hear are good, right, and true rather than bad, wrong, or false.

Implicit Messages

What do I mean by “implicit” messages? I mean that when we look at tables, we see a surface that is flat and sturdy. It is designed to have things placed on it. If it is ornate and intricate, it tells us to put it inside somewhere; don’t use it as a picnic table. If it is low, it should be used as a side table rather than a dinner table. If it is wide and low, then it may look good in front of a couch. 

You can think of any man-made object and do the same kind of analysis. What is this made for? What it is made for means that the person who made it wants it to be used for that thing, whatever it is. The same is true with billboards, iPhone apps, and TV commercials, for example. 

What does all this have to do with our passage? Moses is commanding the people to embed the Law all around them, even in themselves. This is going far beyond what is revealed in the general revelation of creation. The sky reveals God’s handiwork and the heavens declare His glory but Moses is saying that the people constantly need to be reminded of His faithfulness, His promises, His principles, His instructions, His warnings, His reassurances, and His teachings.[1] Things like these are not revealed in the constantly changing painting that is the sky, but they are revealed and preserved in His Law. 

If the people are going to keep the Word on their heart, they need to keep it in front of their eyes. Moses is telling them to keep all these things front and center before them, even in creative ways, so that the Law’s principles, stories, and commands might shape them passively.

Passive influence is a major aspect of what Moses is commanding them here. He is not commanding them to obey everything here. He is commanding them to keep the Law around them all the time. What is the effect of this? They will be constantly reminded of what the Law says. We should remember that the Law is not only the commands in Exodus 20-40 or in Leviticus. Most specifically, Moses is telling them to remember what he is telling them today. Those things include specific commands, including a retelling of the 10 Commandments, but it also includes a summary of their whole history. Moses reminds them throughout Deuteronomy of where they come from, how they got to where they are, and what God has promised them in the future. These are the things that Moses wants in front of them. It is not different from or less than the commandments; it is the commandments plus all the context in which they were received and the stories attached to them.

The Most Important Influencer

We live in an age of influencers, so it should be easy for many of us to understand that Moses is saying that God’s Word should be the biggest influencer in our lives. By keeping these reminders around them all the time, the people will have passive reminders that they do not have to focus on to think about. These things are placed before them so that they run up against them. It is on the backs of their hands so that when they look down they see a reminder. It is on the frontlets between their eyes so that when they look at each other they see not only a person but also a reminder of the Law that gives that person their identity. It is on their doorposts and gates so that whenever they enter their homes they remember how they got there; when they exit their homes, they are reminded of whose world they are going out to live and work. When they enter their gates, they are reminded of who the people are that they are rejoining. When they exit their gates, they are reminded of who they are before they mix with the rest of the world. These passive reminders are intended to have a strong formative effect on people’s lives.

How can parents do this today? Any list can only be partial, since there are innumerable ways to keep Scripture in front of a person. There are plenty of options for wall art in homes, from frames hung on walls to verses drawn on chalkboard. Scripture can be printed or painted on nearly anything, from coffee mugs to t-shirts. Audio is an alternative medium; music is often downplayed for its formative ability, but playing music based on Scripture or biblical themes is a powerful way to keep Scripture in front of us passively. There is no limit to how a person might do this. The point is to do it.

It is common for the influence of passive messaging to be downplayed. Marketing companies are well aware of the subtle influence that advertisements have. Advertisements are an enormous business. In fact, the technique of product placement is closely aligned with what Moses is saying here.

Product placement occurs when a film shows a product from the real world in a positive light. The main character may drink a certain drink that the advertisers paid the producers to include, or all the heroes’ cars may be the same brand. These product placements subtly communicate the desirability of one or another company’s product, resulting in higher sales.

What Moses is commanding is essentially the same. We need to think of our lives in terms of product placement throughout the day to communicate to us what is right, what is good, and what is true. Doing these things is what Moses means by keeping Scripture in front of us. Doing so does not make us holy, but it is used by God to motivate and shape us in that direction. It is a powerful practice, and parents need to employ it with their children.

A Disclaimer

It should be noted here that, despite the importance of what Moses saying here and its practical importance in our lives, surrounding ourselves with Scripture is no substitute for the work of God in writing His law on our hearts.[2] Surrounding ourselves with Scripture will not cause our kids to be regenerated by the Spirit.[3] Yet promoting the presence of Scripture in our lives is nonetheless important for us to do, even if our actions our not sufficient to accomplish what is most important. The prayer is the God will use His Word to accomplish what He sets out to do in it, namely, to open people’s eyes to see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.[4] We can and should learn from the wisdom of what God is commanding His people through Moses in this passage, taking care to discern the messaging that we and our loved ones are exposed to, and considering the direction in which that messaging is seeking to influence us to live. We should keep Scripture in front of us.

[1] Cf. Psalm 19.

[2] Jeremiah 31:33: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (ESV)

[3] Cf. John 3:1-8.

[4] Cf. 2 Corinthian 4:6