Home…it’s where the heart is. Home…it’s the sometimes forgotten and often neglected place. Home…if we don’t have a rooted home place then it’ll be harder for us to grow strong and healthy.
As a parent, I know just how easy it is to place your family on the side burner while you focus on things that seem greater. I am ashamed to admit that I know the struggle, but it is the truth.
In this season, I have joyfully found so much satisfaction focusing on my family…yet, when extra opportunities come, I still see how easy it is to fall back into the routine of putting family to the side to pursue external things. It’s shocking how easy it is to fall back into that old habit, honestly.
Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generations. After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in, your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field. And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls. Proverbs 27:23-27
This portion of scripture reminds me of the importance of cultivating home. Families who are strong together. Families who know the value of being a tight knit family. Families who grow together, serve together, worship together, etc. are so much more fulfilling and profitable. Sowing into future generations is so important. We’re not on this earth to simply live for ourselves…we were meant to build and then pass on what we’ve built to the next generation.
We need to turn back in…and look at our own homes. Is your home in order?
I know that when we become more involved at church it can become a distraction from family life. We must always weigh every decision before we commit to it…even when it pertains to church and ministry.
When we choose a job, we consider the imposition it will be for our entire family…and weigh that in our decision. Far too less, do we even consider weighing ministry opportunities this same way.
Family. Home. Marriage. These are pillars in our lives that must not be neglected. If more people would focus on these things, the divorce rate within the church would plummet.
Why then do many neglect it? Well, because it’s hard. It requires 100% of us all the time. Family is the most important thing yet brings no immediate praise or acknowledgment. Basically, the way I see it, is that pride and selfishness stand between us and developing strong family units. In Bible times, they knew the benefit of strong families. They had a much more solid place from which to grow.
We can reform this situation at any time…it just requires that we begin to act deliberately and intentionally. It means that we would pull away from the status quo and sow into our households.
Our focus should be…God, family, then everything else.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14
365 Days in the Presence 