ON THE VANGUARD

SH'MA ISRAEL
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts."
Deuteronomy 6:4-6

שְׁמַע, יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָד.
Sh'ma Israel, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai echad

Deuteronomy 6 opens with Moses delivering to the people of Israel the words of God as they were about to enter into the Promised Land. As Moses would not be allowed to go into the Promise himself, he made sure that those who did would know God's commands. Moses also charged the people of Israel to pass these words down to their children, and children's children, but more importantly, to fully obey God so that they could walk in God's blessings. In this charge we read the Sh'ma.
In the Jewish culture, the Sh'ma is placed within a m'zuzah and affixed to the door frame. The term "m'zuzah" itself means door frame in Hebrew. The message within the box is powerful, but the message of the box is just as bold in that it shares with all who see it that inside that house is one who honors God and is dedicated to his service. Tracing back to the roots of this custom, the door frame was a place that portrayed ones identity. This then seems to shed light on why forty years earlier God commanded Israel to apply the blood of the Passover lamb to the door frame. The blood marked those who were dedicated to God.
There is no reference or story within the New Testament of the m'zuzah itself, but the message of the Sh'ma was referenced by Jesus. In Mark 12:28-34, Jesus is approached and asked which commandment is the greatest. Jesus responds with the same words Moses delivered. And then, to bring clarity, Jesus speaks that the greatest is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor.
Here we are, years later, and those words of Jesus still ring true for us. God is not into competition as He commands us to have no other gods before Him (Ex 20). And in the words penned by David in Psalm 51, He is not into sacrifice as instead He demands our obedience. So what can we offer to God as a testament to Him and to others that we are devoted? I see no other option or privilege than to love God with ALL that is in me; my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let us hear, O Israel, the commandments God has given us upon our hearts and obey. Join me ON THE VANGUARD!