Tuesday June 18, 2019

Home Wreck-a-nomics

Malachi, whose name, means, “my messenger,” was the last prophetic voice of the Old Testament. In the book he sharply rebukes Israel for their indifference toward true worship of God and the things of God, including family. Family is a not only an ordination from God, it is a gift. Much like our waning enthusiasm of our worship to God, so is our inclination toward our families. We often become last in our devotion. But there is coming a time, and now is, when God will turn us back from being home-wreckers to home-restorers,

The family is the first and oldest institution of man…the greatest and the holiest. The family unit provides a person’s central relationships, nurture, and support. So great is the image of family that the New Testament writers used the family to describe the nature of faith, the Church, and even God and His Son.

Yet the family is almost unrecognizable today. The enemy has almost succeeded in destroying the divine pattern of the family. One man, one woman, blessed with children brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. This is the time for the Church to step up with vigilance and a militancy to stay the flow of family destruction.

The Bible is full of reminders of the beauty of family as ordained by the Lord. Here are just a few reminders:

Marriage is the paramount relationship to all others.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Gen.2:24)

Women are to be loved and nurtured just as Christ loves and nurtures the Church.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. (Eph.5:25)

A Husband is commanded to keep his household in the way of the Lord.

For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him. (Gen.18:19)

Children are a gift from the Lord who need the loving discipline of the parents “while there is hope” for their lives (Pro.19:18).

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. (Ps.127:3)

Fathers are not to provoke their children to anger, but should nurture them in the ways of the Lord (Eph.6:4). Children are to rise up and call their mothers “blessed” and not curse her (Pro.31:28). And, honor is the hallmark of all family relationships (Ex.20:12) (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of father)

Though Satan teaches the course in Home Wreck-a-nomics, we have a Teacher in the Holy Spirit who teaches Home Restoration. Family 101 is a course we all need to take!

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Related Scripture

He will restore the hearts of the father’s to their children and the hearts of the children to their father’s so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.

— Malachi 4:6

Word Wisdom

father

Hebrew “ab (ahv); Strong’s #1

Father; forefather; producer of a certain thing. A very simple word, ‘ab is supposed to be one of the first words a baby can speak. The Aramaic form of ‘ab is ‘abba, which has become common in modern Hebrew as the word Israeli children uses for “daddy.” Jesus applied this toddler’s word to His divine Father (Mark 14:36). The Holy Spirit teaches us to call God “Abba” (Romans 8:15). ‘Ab is found in many compound names in the Bible; for example, ‘Abraham (Abraham), “Father of a Multitude”; ‘Abimielech (Abimelech), “My Father is King”; Yoab (Joab), “Yahweh is a Father”; and ‘Abshalom (Absolam), “Father of Peace.” Sometimes ‘ab does not mean physical father so much as it does architect, builder, creator, and the one who causes something to be. Hence, a “father of evil” is someone who produces evil. Jesus described Satan as the “father of lies.” ‘Ab as “creator” and “producer” is applied to the Lord Jesus who is ‘abi ‘ad, the “Everlasting Father,” or more literally, the “Father of Eternity” (Isaiah 9:6).

So...

Clovis Chappell, a minister from a century back, used to tell the story of two paddleboats. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail’s pace of the other. Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.

One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship’s cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but burned their cargo.

God has entrusted cargo to us, too: children, spouses, friends. Our job is to do our part in seeing that this cargo reaches its destination. Yet when the program takes priority over people, people often suffer. How much cargo do we sacrifice in order to achieve the number one slot? How many people never reach the destination because of the aggressiveness of a competitive captain?