My House

I have heard these words many times, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”  I wonder how many believers have repeated this only to find that someone in the family has chosen not to follow the Lord.  There is no guarantee that your whole family will agree with you in your decision to follow the Lord.  We all have a free choice and we can choose the path we will take and the Lord will not force Himself on us and make us go against our will even though He can make things pretty miserable if He chooses to.

There are two places where Jesus talked about this in the four gospels that I know of and they are:

Luke 12:49-53, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Matthew 10:34–37, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

I think many believers are shocked when one or more of their kids or somebody in their family chooses not to serve or follow the Lord, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone, but I would think it would still make them sad.  Your family, as well as you, has choices to make and as long as you have been an example before them in your Christian walk and they have heard the truth and you are holding them up before the Lord in prayer and loving them, then they have decisions and choices to make and they will have to live with the consequences of their choices.  But, don’t hold the Lord responsible for their choices or get angry at Him and hold anger and bitterness towards Him because of the choices they make.  

Remember nothing can be more important, or take the place of the Lord, in your life, that could be called idolatry and I am sure that none of us want to be accused of that.  Jesus said some things that seem hard to accept at times but we need to take the good with what we may consider not so good.  Remember this, it is not what we want to hear that is important, it is what we need to hear that is important.  I don’t believe you should ever neglect your family, but the Lord has to be the first priority in your life.  Let me encourage you to keep being faithful, love the Lord first of all and love your family and pray with faith, trusting the Lord for the answer you desire and never give up for the answer you are looking for may be just a prayer away.  So, like I said, never give up.  Something to think about, may the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super, super day!!