The Psalmist challenges the attention of every parent with the words of Psalm 127:1, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who built it.”
The home was the first divinely instituted organism in the world. God saw that it was not good for man to dwell alone so woman was formed and the first unit of society graced the earth. The law of procreation was ordained by Jehovah and truly, “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3).
The poorest children in the world are those bereft of spiritual blessings. A home without emphasis upon the Bible is one built upon shallow ground. How blessed are the offspring of parents like Abraham who “commanded their children after them to walk in the footprints of the Lord” (Genesis 18:19; 1 Pet. 2:21-22). C. Mays was certainly correct in the following poem:
A Home Without a Bible (Abridged)
“What is home without a Bible? ‘Tis a home where day is night,
Starless night, for o’er life’s pathway Heaven can shed no kindly light.
What is home without a Bible? ‘Tis a home where daily bread
For the body is provided, But the soul is never fed.
What is home without a Bible? ‘Tis a family out at sea,
Compass lost and rudder broken, Drifting, drifting, thoughtlessly.
We ought to work diligently to produce the kind of homes that will glorify God and save the world. A great home is the bulwark of society. In the Bible we have many passages that give answer to the question of greatness. Let us notice a few. “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked…” (Revelation 3:17). “This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth” (Jeremiah 7:28).
Could these words from Solomon, Jeremiah and Christ have application to events in our day? Truly, “it is time to seek the Lord” (Hosea 10:12).
Nations, families, churches, preachers and citizens cannot be great in the sight of God when materialism controls their lives. We must remember, as Daniel said, “The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men,…” (Daniel 2:17,25).
Do you want to be valuable, useful, important? You can be. Just adequately answer these two questions: What on earth are you doing for heaven’s sake? Is the Lord ruling your home-life today?
-Johnny Ramsey