Me and My House

According to the God-ordained structure of marriage and family, the husband submitted to Jesus Christ is given authority and responsibility to teach his wife and children to fear and honour God.  When this calling is mixed with pride of the flesh, only disaster can result.  In every way possible, I am called as a husband and dad to love and obey God first, and then to lead the rest of my family to do the same - like a shepherd who leads the flock.  Men can make the mistake of leaving this responsibility of their ministry to others or treat little lambs roughly as men do cattle: goading and driving oxen into confinement in pens with shouts and loud cracks of a whip.  A bruised reed Jesus did not break, and smoking flax He did not quench.  Love permeated all His speech and deeds.

It was Joshua who uttered the famous statement in Joshua 24:14-15, "Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."  For forty years after leaving Egypt, many Israelites carried the dumb idols of their fathers who perished in the wilderness with them.  Though many refused to give up their idolatry (Eze. 20:7-9), Joshua made a decision to put away all idolatry from his life, and he was going to fear and serve the LORD only.  Recognise he decided to serve God himself first and foremost.  He was not going to force on his family what he considered best for them without walking in that upright way himself.  As Joshua established his steps in God's honour, he took the initiative to lead the rest of the family to follow his God.  It's a fair question:  where do I put more emphasis concerning holiness - on "me" or "my house?"

Kids are not stupid.  They can sense hypocrisy with the best, their minds discerning right and wrong with legalistic perfection.  They know when you have had too much to drink and how that makes you act.  They know when you stay up late watching programs you would never allow them to watch.  They observe continuously how you spend your time.  They know what a priority prayer, Bible reading, and serving at church is to you.  Like it or not, we are either leading our families to Jesus through our examples or leading them away from Him.  To drive our children to do things for the sake of "because I say so" supplies nothing more than vain  tradition.  Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."  This greatest of commands is for all individuals and parents regardless of sex.  Parents have the responsibility not just to talk about God, but to live a life where God is our all in all.  Children will ultimately go their own way, and when parents follow Jesus faithfully it opens that straight narrow path which leads to eternal life for them to follow.

A life lived for God's glory has far greater weight than mere words. This is where we can go wrong.  In our own strength we can lay heavy words on others, and assure ourselves we have done our duty.  But our neglect to destroy our own idols and follow Jesus alone gives our hypocritical words a negative effect.  "Do as I say, not as I do" is the worst way a man can live  I dare say it would better to be an alcoholic, fiercely controlling, verbally abusive, hateful man who curses God and openly denies Him than to claim you fear God whilst refusing to submit to Him fully.  Many "churched" children are disillusioned by the hypocrisy of their "Christian" parents who go through the motions of service and devotion but whose hearts and lives are far from God.  If you desire to say, "As for me and my house we will serve the LORD," such a claim begins with you alone.  If you do not fear, trust, and honour God, you are incapable of rightly leading others to do so.  God can use a donkey to speak good sense, but that is no encouragement to act like one.

Follow Christ yourself, and take the initiative to lead others to do the same.  Lead as you have been led.  Be casting your cares on the LORD because He cares for you.  We are called as much as depends on us to live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18), and this goes for our family members as well.  Empowerment of the Holy Spirit enables us to live like our Prince of Peace who always did the will of the Father.  Even Jesus had a Judas, and the only way Simon became Peter was by the grace and goodness of God.