In the Paint: Anointing Our Doorposts

In 2010, rapper Waka Flocka Flame released his hit single 'Hard in da Paint,' to describe how aggressively he strives to take down his rivels. The phrase ‘Goin’ hard,’ originally a basketball term, was quickly coined in urban cultures to describe a ruthless intent to win, against all odds. (1)

In basketball, the paint, or key, is the rectangular free throw area, located under the hoop, on a basketball court. This high energy area of the court got its name because it is often shaded, or painted, with the team’s colors. This free throw lane is the most vigorously active area of the court, partially because an offensive player can only spend a maximum of three seconds at a time in the paint. This means that the player, while encroaching the territory, only has three seconds to spot the opportunity, seize it, and get back out. (2)

Oddly enough, i found this bit of trivia during my research on spiritual warfare. If you are wondering where i found the common ground, it's in the paint.   the painting of our doorframes, with oil, during the first month of a year is an act of Spiritual warfare that was practiced, with a lamb’s blood, during Passover (Exodus 12:2). We typically think of Passover in the spring, as we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection; however, the painting of our doorframes, with oil, is also done during the first month of a year, as an act of sanctification.

The image of the Passover meal, for most of us, is that of Jesus, and His disciples, reclined on cushions around one side of a long dinner table enjoying the last supper. While this is a fairly accurate depiction of how the meal would have been celebrated during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the original Passover meal was “eaten in haste (Exodus 12:11).”

On the night of their deliverance from Egypt, which always represents bondage, the Lord would pass through the land and strike the firstborn. The blood of the lamb, on the doorpost, was a sign to the death angel that those inside were covered. In the original Hebrew context, the term pass through was depicted by the crossing of a border; it’s the entering, or invading, of a territory.

Biblically, Egypt always represents a place of bondage, or slavery; likewise, the firstborn is typically a reference to the root of a thing, or issue. Israel had been enslaved to the Egyptians for years, across generational lines. They cried out to the Lord for the deliverance of their heritage, that they would not become what had enslaved them. This is the night that the Lord came for His own.

I picture the original Passover as being like the nuclear holocaust of spiritual warfare. Ironically, the same picture comes to mind when I think of our position, as believers, among the ravenous bondages of today’s culture. This is war family, and we should be on high alert for the Pass-over; with a belt on our waist, sandals on our feet, and a staff in our hand (Exodus 12:11).  

During the first week of 2024, as I was cleaning, praying, and preparing my home to usher in the newness of the year, I decided to put a few drops of anointing oil in the paint that I was using to freshen the trim on the doors. That is what sparked this whole movement, my person al commitment position, and trajectory, for the year. We are at war for our families, Spiritually, and I intend to train, strategize, and fight accordingly.

It time to “go hard in the paint.” Before I began researching this lesson, I had no idea that was a basketball term. I actually thought it was jail slang. My son once told me a story about an area in the local jail, ‘the paint,’ that was just outrange of camera surveillance. When inmates wanted to settle a matter, the old-fashioned way, they would “take it to the paint.”

Be it the basketball court or the prison yard, the urgency of the statement is the same. In 2024, I urge you to position yourself, and your household, for victory. #inthepaint2024