10/11/16 – Family
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It doesn’t matter how good of a builder you believe yourself to be, there’s always a hurricane, earthquake, or tornado that can bring your house down. It doesn’t matter how watchful you believe yourself to be, there’s always an enemy sneakier than you are vigilant who will slip in to gain a foothold. The family is not something you and I can write blueprints and a construction plan for and hope that it will turn out solid. No, we must turn to God to direct the steps of our households, marriages, parenting, etc: One man married to one woman raising children in a loving, secure home with God at the center.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
What honorable father hasn’t looked at the family budget and felt like he could do just a little bit more for his family, just putting in a couple more hours each day (and coming home dead tired); what worthy mother hasn’t clipped coupons, shopped sales, and tried to trim expenses because the family needed some additional cash flow? There’s no argument to be made against hard work or frugality, but this proverbial verse teaches us that a good night’s sleep and a peaceful life (not anxiety) is God’s intention for those whom he loves. You can’t be more blessed by working extra hours if it costs you sleep. God is concerned about thequality of your home life. Fathers, be at home; mothers, when you are home, be present in the family’s life.
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Why is the home life so important? Because that’s where your children are formed. They’re taught to be husbands/wives, brothers/sisters, lovers, defenders, debaters, and believers in that home environment. Children were not given to parents to decorate their lives or to give a sense of fulfillment to life. Children were loaned to parents so that they would raise them in a nurturing crèche of love, responsibility, and faith.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
While I may carry a sword that fights – mightily – wherever I am, there are places I cannot go, there are battles I cannot fight. But I can fit arrow to bow, take careful aim, and let fly that one who can fight beyond me. Parents, consider how/where you can send your children into life on their own.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Children who are raised-well and whose hearts have remained soft towards God and their own families are a source of pride, not an occasion of shame. We spend so much time working to build up a retirement fund so that we won’t have to beg from others (shameful!), but wouldn’t we be better off investing in our children so that their lives will be honor for us – and for God – in the years to come?
Levi Sisemore is minister of the 37th Street Church of Christ, Snyder, Texas