Everybody has a home.
A lady working kids at her church once asked, “Where is God’s home?” The class was silent for a moment, and then a little boy raised his hand. When the teacher asked him where God’s home was, he answered confidently, “In the bathroom at my house!”
“Why do you say that?” the teacher asked. He replied knowingly, “Because every morning my mom bangs on the bathroom door and says, ‘My Lord, are you still in there?'”
Everybody has a home. We have hometowns and home teams. Even God has a home in heaven. God invites us to have a healthy home here on earth. But it seems that there is always something that comes up that threatens the health of our homes. What is threatening the health of your home today? Think about that for a minute. What is threatening the health of your home today?
Beyond participating in our democracy, Christians have a high calling to be the change we wish to see. The apostles were so Christlike that their enemies saw their “boldness” and “recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). The light that shines the farthest is always the brightest at home.
As Chuck Colson famously noted, “The Kingdom of God will not arrive on Air Force One.” The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.
Healthy Homes = Healthy Communities
Healthy Communities = Healthy States
Healthy States = Healthy Countries
Healthy Countries = Healthy World
WE NEED STRONG HEALTHY CHRISTIAN HOMES
How important is having a healthy home to you? Healthy homes are central to God’s plan. Let’s look together at God’s Word and see what we can pick up and take with us. The Bible is anything but silent about home life. Here are three valuable Biblical lessons about our lives at home.
1. The first human punishments were a loss of home.
“The Lord God sent him out (Adam) from the garden of Eden” – Genesis 3:23
Adam lived 930 years before he died, and he never got back home. But he was just the beginning. Consider Cain and Abel. The narrative focuses our attention on Cain’s angry response to God. This was his decision. It was possible for Cain to recover from sin quickly if he did the right thing. But he pursued si n’s anger, and the result was sin’s mastery over him. This showed the spread of sin from Adam’s family to his descendants. Not only did sin affect everyone, but people became progressively more wicked as time passed.
“You (Cain) shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” – Genesis 4:12
Though the writer of Genesis wants to highlight the parallels between the two stories, he does not regard the murder of Abel simply as a rerun of the fall. There is development: sin is more firmly entrenched, and humanity is further alienated from God. Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod. “Nod” means “wandering,” The very name of the place where he lived also reminded him of his sentence.
2. Healthy homes are a prerequisite for church leadership.
“If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” -1 Timothy 3:4-5
The home is the proving ground for church leadership. Paul listed 15 characteristics that should mark the life of a man who aspired to serve as an elder. In that list, Paul said that he must manage his own household well. Paul also says the same thing about Deacons managing their homes well.
3. God has an eternal home for you and me.
Have you ever wondered about what happens after you die? Many people want to hear about how they can have their best life now. But that is shortsighted and faulty thinking. Your best life now? What a sham! If you are a Christian, I want you to know that you can’t have your best life NOW. Compared to what God has planned in eternity, this world has nothing for you or for me.
There is a payday for believers. We will be rewarded. Christians will all stand before Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This judgment is for reward and not reprimand. The Christian life is about delayed gratification. We have a future home in heaven.
“In my Father’s house are many rooms.” John 14:2
This world is not designed to be the best of all possible worlds. This world is designed to be the best of all possible ways to get to the best of all possible worlds. Heaven is our home. In the meantime, remember that everybody has a home. Healthy homes are central to God’s plan. How important is having a healthy home to you? What is threatening the health of your home today?