A Blessed Home

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!

Serve the LORD with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the LORD, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the LORD is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

If we want to have blessed homes, regular worship must be a part of our lives – not forsaking the assembly as we are commanded in Hebrews 10:25. We must also serve the Lord as a way of living. Joshua served the Lord for 110 years and yet he was not called a servant of the Lord until he died (Joshua 24:29). Like Joshua, we must be faithful until death if we want to receive the crown of life (Revelation 2:10). So how do we serve the Lord in sincerity? While the Hebrew word ta-mimV has many shades of meaning, the sense here is “pertaining to that which is genuine” or, in plain English, “not as a hypocrite”. First of all, God knows our hearts and knows if we’re serving Him sincerely. But our children can also see through hypocrisy and know whether we’re serving God in sincerity or not. You may be fooling some of the people some of the time but you’re not fooling God or your children. Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth.” We know from John 4:24 that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” We understand that acceptable worship must be from the heart with the proper attitude and according to what is written in God’s word – in truth. The same is true for our daily service to Him – it must be in truth – according to His commandments for mankind. Since Joshua is delivering the Lord’s message in our text, let’s go back and see what God told Joshua as he took over after Moses died. Turn with me to Joshua 1 and let’s read verses 7 and 8: Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. I believe we understand what all this means when we’re talking about Joshua but how about applying it to ourselves and our homes? God’s word has always been integral to the lives of his people. We need to take a lesson from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” This doesn’t mean we have to wear phylacteries or nail mezuzahs to the doorposts of our houses. For those of you unfamiliar with these terms, let me explain them briefly. Phylacteries are mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 23:5. They were leather cubes containing pieces of parchment with scriptures written on them. One is worn on the forehead and the other on the left arm during morning prayers. Mezuzahs are little oblong, decorative boxes attached to the doorposts of homes containing parchment with the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 written on them as well as the word Shaddai for God. I wish we had time to read Deuteronomy 11:13-21 for it tells how God promises to bless His people if they keep His commandments and teach them to their children. How well are we teaching God’s commandments to our children and grandchildren or are we depending on Sunday school teachers? Oh, that we would all long to say the words of 3 John 4 – I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. However, we must walk in it if we expect our children and grandchildren to do likewise. Fourthly, we must put away the gods which stand between us and our Father in heaven. Most of us are quick to say we are not idolatrous but what gets between us and serving God? Is it sports? Is it homework? Is it work? Is it family? Is it a hobby such as NASCAR, golf, hunting or fishing? When God becomes the center of our homes, we will have blessed homes. As an example, turn with me to 2 Samuel 6:11-12 and we’ll read together. To set the stage, after David tried to move the ark on a cart to Jerusalem and Uzzah was struck dead by God for touching the ark, the ark was placed in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. As you know, God dwelt between the cherubim that were part of the mercy seat that sat atop the ark of the covenant. The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household. Now it was told King David, saying, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. Can you imagine how Obed-Edom felt to have God dwelling in his house for three months? Especially as he realized how God was blessing him and his household. Folks, we don’t have an ark we can bring into our house with God on it. However, most of us have another box or several of them that we tend to worship. But it’s more of a place where the devil dwells. Now, I’m not preaching against TV’s, computers and video games unless they’re destroying your home. If you’re allowing them to bring garbage into your homes and pollute your minds as well as your children’s, God will not bless your home. Folks, we must make our homes where God would choose to dwell. We must make them holy! Finally – point #5, we need to stand up and say with Joshua, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Men, this is our responsibility – to lead our families. Sometimes, ladies must take that stand. But, if we want blessed homes – if we want God to bless our homes like He did Obed-Edom, we must take a stand like Joshua to serve the LORD – to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). It is when we do this in our homes that God will bless us with what we need in this life.