There are probably certain things you wouldn’t consider doing without your cell phone or smartphone … like leave the house. Am I right?

You wouldn’t drive without it — it’s your GPS.

It sits on your desk at work — and knows all your important phone numbers.

And you make sure to keep it handy whenever you have to wait. Might as well crush some candy at the doctor’s office.

My point is that we bring our phones everywhere. Whether our fingers are constantly flying over the touchscreen keyboard or we tuck it away in case of emergency, there are places we just won’t go without it.

In the days of Jesus, devout Jews wouldn’t go to prayers without bringing certain things along. They didn’t wear these things all day every day, but they made sure to tote them to prayers.

The things I’m referring to are frontlets. Easton’s Bible Dictionary tells me that frontlets are little calfskin cases containing pieces of parchment inscribed with four Torah verses (Exodus 13:2-10, 11-16, Deut. 6:4-9, 11:13-21), and they are fastened either to the forehead, arm, or both. These were also called tephillin (or tefillin) and are thought to be synonymous with the phylacteries that Jesus references in Matt. 23:5.

Jews began wearing frontlets after the Babylonian captivity, according to Easton’s, when leaders adopted a literal interpretation of the verses that say, “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes” (Ex. 13:16, Deut. 6:8, 11:18).

The intention was to show that God’s Word and His law held a place of supreme importance in their lives — so important that they actually wear it on their physical bodies when approaching God in prayer.

I don’t physically wear frontlets, but I’m thinking it’s a great idea to put them on spiritually speaking.

Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

I realize that memorizing and internalizing scripture is an absolute must — but I confess that I probably know more advertising jingles by heart than entire scriptures. Yes, reciting them is only the first step; actually living them is my daily challenge. But I can’t live God’s way if I haven’t read it or studied it.

One easy way to keep scripture nearby all the time is to — you guessed it — put it on your smartphone. Download the new, updated Bible and Book of Mormon app from the Church of Jesus Christ on the iTunes App Store or Google Play. This is the second iteration of the app, which includes a bunch of new functionality.

• Red-letter words of Christ
• Ability to filter search results by Old Testament, New Testament, or Book of Mormon
• Ability to go straight to a specific book, chapter, and verse by inputting it into the search bar
• Tap-to-go-to-chapter feature on the Verse of the Day
• Ability to edit notes
• Support for newest operating systems
• Fixed bugs and typos

You already carry your phone everywhere. Why not exchange some of that Facebook scrolling for face-time with God’s Word? We are so excited for this app update and hope it makes it easier to carry the Word with you!

If you don’t have the app yet, then search your app store of choice for “The Bible and Book of Mormon.” If it’s already downloaded onto your phone, then simply perform an app update to install the new features.

Already been using the new version? Leave a comment below telling us how you like it.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.