God Bless Our Home

By J. Noel Merideth "I long to see home," says the soldier on some distant battlefield. "I am going home," thinks the worker when he leaves his job, tired with the labors of the day. "I must hurry home," says the mother whose heart is on her baby in the cradle. "Oh, how I long to get home," says the schoolboy discouraged over the difficult task. "Do not stop me; I am going home," says the bright-eyed girl skipping along the footpath. "I want to go home," says the little boy who gets hurt while playing with the neighbors. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like a good home.

At the end of the day, father turns his face toward his home. The thought comes to him that loved ones are waiting and watching to welcome him. He is greeted by his children and his busy wife. He relaxes in his favorite chair as his wife prepares dinner. Here a world of hate is shut out and a world of love is shut in. Cheerfulness and laughter echo off the walls as everyone tells of the day's activities. As the family sits together the children's minds are placed on the high path of virtue, truth, integrity, and pure religion. Here there is confidence and love; the hearts are sure of each other. There is no suspicious coldness, no bitterness, and no envy. Here expressions of tenderness freely flow without any sense of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule. These precious moments of the family all together is a "golden age" and one of the richest joys which life can give. Each member of the family has special needs and receives special attention. Memories are engraved in our hearts which will last a lifetime and beyond.

To have a happy home and one that is blessed by God, we should have Jesus Christ in the home. The decisions of the home should be in accordance to the will of Christ. The Scripture teaches, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Col. 3:17). Jesus Christ is interested in our home. Living in accordance with His will as revealed in the Bible is the most important thing we can do to insure a happy marriage. The secret of a beautiful life and a Christian home is summed up in these words:

Christ at the marriage altar.

Christ on the bridal journey.

Christ when the new home is set up.

Christ when the baby comes.

Christ when the baby dies.

Christ in the pinching times.

Christ in the days of plenty.

Christ when the wedded pair walk toward the sunset gates.

Christ for time; Christ for eternity.

That is the secret of home.

Let Him who was a guest at Bethany be in your household; open your heart to Jesus and He will come in and sup with you (Rev. 3:20). You can then say:

Christ is the head of this house,

The unseen guest at every meal,

The silent listener to every conversation.

Second, to have a home that God blesses there must be love. Many people today do not know what love is. They often confuse physical attraction, lust, personal desire, or infatuation with love. Webster says it is "a feeling of strong personal attachment induced by sympathetic understanding, or by ties of kinship; ardent affection." Henry Drummond, in the book titled The Greatest Thing in the World, points out that 1 Corinthians 13 gives nine characteristics of love. These characteristics are: patience, kindness, generosity, humility, courtesy, unselfishness, good temper, guilelessness, and sincerity. We should all examine our love to see if it meets God's standards of acceptable expression. If the fire of love burns low, we should ask God to help us rekindle our love. Love lifts us to a higher world of beauty, lifting life from the dust to meet the sunrise of joy. It is "beauty incarnated, kindness glorified, and goodness sanctified." It is a sacred fire that must not be burned to idols. In that great song of love, we read: "He brought me to the banqueting-house, And his banner over me was love" (Song of Solomon 2:4). Proverbs 15:17 says, "Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." This proverb teaches that it is better to sit down to a poor table where love abounds, than to sit down to a sumptuous meal where hate abounds.

Love helps us make marriage adjustments in maturity. It promotes good communication in the home. Many family problems arise over the inability of its members to communicate with each other. Family members should not explode in anger nor give each other the silent treatment. They should speak the truth in love—in kind words they should express what is on their hearts. There are two golden expressions that everyone should learn to communicate to others: "I am sorry," and "I love you." Everyone makes mistakes and needs forgiveness and patient forbearance. Cowper says:

The kindest and the happiest pair

Will find occasion to forbear;

And something, every day they live,

To pity, and perhaps forgive.

Third, to have a happy home and one that is pleasing in the sight of God, we should have righteousness in the home.

For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him (2 Chronicles 16:9).

The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell therein for ever (Psalm 37:29).

But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off" (Psalm 37:28).

For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).

For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil (1 Peter 3:10-12).

It is thus clear that God will bless a home that is filled with righteousness. Someone has written the following:

If there is righteousness in the heart,

There will be beauty in the character.

If there is beauty in the character,

There will be harmony in the home.

If there is harmony in the home,

There will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,

There will be peace in the world.

A good home is the resort of love, of joy, of peace and harmony. Our home is a spot of earth supremely blessed a dearer, sweeter spot than others. This fond attachment to the well-known place where first we started into life's long race, maintains its hold with such unfailing sway, we feel it throughout our lives. To be happy at home should be our aim and ambition. We should work to that end and desire it earnestly. The crown of the home is goodliness, the beauty of the home is righteousness, the glory of home is hospitality, and the blessing of the home is contentment.

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