We read in Matthew 18:23, “Therefore is the kingdom of the heavens likened unto a man who is king who would take account of his slaves.” (JUB)
The kingdom of God is as we considered earlier compared to a king who would hold accountable his slaves who worked for him. The king held the slaves accountable only because he had a relationship with them, and they worked for him.
This accountability we realize is applicable to many areas of our lives, and we are specifically trying to understand how this applies to marriage relationships as well. All that we have, our abilities, time, strength, our family, our income, all of it has been bestowed to us by God and hence, it is valid that He will hold us accountable for the way we use all of them. When God calls us to give an account, we should be those who are ready to give a proper account of all that He has blessed us with.
If you ever wondered about the kind of relationship we have with God, it is a blood relationship that was established by the Lord Jesus when He shed His precious blood for us on the cross of Calvary for our sins. The precious blood of Jesus redeemed us, and therefore it is inevitable that when we come into such a relationship with God, that He will for certain hold us accountable for all that He has entrusted to us.
We highlighted three words from the above mentioned verse. 1. King, 2. Slaves and 3. Took account. For any relationship to accomplish its purpose, accountability is a basic and vital part of that relationship.
Accountability in work place
Here are a few examples. In a factory there is a special room allotted to keep the stores, where most of the spares needed for the functioning of that factory are stored. Periodically, the supervisors will shut down the store for a day, to take stock of the things that are in the store to make sure that the stock that is recorded in the books, and the actuals that remain in the store tally. These frequent stock taking helps the store manager to be accurate, have a stock of all the necessary spares needed, so that when there is an inspection from the higher ups, there will be no issues in his accounting, and he remains well stocked for the smooth functioning of the factory.
Accountability in school
In a school there are teachers and students. The purpose of this relationship is that teachers teach the students their assigned subjects, and children learn what is being taught them. The routine tests and examinations, which most students dread are those accountability tests to ensure that the students have comprehended what was taught by their teachers. The teachers correct these answer sheets handed over to them which is part of their accountability to the children.
There are some parents who don’t send their children to school regularly, and have them stay home for every small ailment. If we want our children to grow up to be disciplined, it is crucial that they attend school regularly. Most schools also impose certain rules for their students like the minimum number of days a child should have attended school, punctuality and that leave should be taken only with prior permission. These rules are set only because the school authorities have a relationship with the child who is admitted to their school, and are accountable for their overall development. It is good to remind ourselves that accountability is always two sided.
Accountability at church
As much as we are conscientious about worldly things, we should be circumspect in matters pertaining to God, and the church as well. Sometimes, members will plan to be out of station for various reasons, but don’t find the necessity to inform the pastor or leaders in the church and apprise only when asked. It is good to remind ourselves that even in church there is a relationship between the pastor and the congregation. The pastor teaches the word, while the congregation gather to listen and learn from the word. It is only when there is mutual effort, and both are accountable to each other, that this relationship will grow.
We read in Numbers 27:16-17, set a man over the congregation....that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd. (Webster)
This is the prayer of Moses that the Lord should set a man over the congregation of Israel, so that they have a shepherd to guide them. A relationship is established between the shepherd and the sheep this way; the shepherd provides fodder for the sheep, while the sheep faithfully follow after the shepherd. So also, the pastor is the shepherd of God’s flock, whose duty is to feed them the word of God, while the sheep are to trust the shepherd and receive the word that is taught with a receptive heart.
As members of the church of God, each one of us is accountable to God for all that He lavishes on us through the church. Accountability to the church is therefore applicable in the following ways. Commitment to the church should mean, taking effort to attend the weekly bible studies, coming together for prayer (a great example is of the church praying together when Peter was thrown into prison and the angel of the Lord delivered him to set him free) for only prayer can bring revival. It could also mean that when a family has lost a loved one, the members of the church take time out to be available to assist, and console the bereaved family. When a message from the church is shared through social media, it means, acknowledging the message, and not ignoring it. If we analyze ourselves we often ignore messages, not because we don’t have time, but because we don’t have the heart to respond. Many of us claim that we love the Lord more than anyone else in this world, but in reality we spend minimal time with God, and also for things pertaining to God and His word.
As a body of Christ we therefore have the obligation to be accountable to one another, and if we are able to do this we will have no fear to stand before the Great Shepherd, when He appears in all His glory and give an account of ourselves to Him.
Accountability in marriage
• Invest in spending time with one another
As marriage was ordained by God, for a marriage relationship to be meaningful accountability between husband and wife is also mandatory. It is when spouses don’t understand this, that they get upset with each other if either one questions the other, simply because there is a lack of accountability in the relationship.
We read in Ephesians 5:25 -27, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Webster)
The command from the Lord is that husbands love their wives, as Christ loved the church. The love that the Lord Jesus has for the church is so extraordinary, that it prompted Him to invest His time, and give Himself so that the church of God can stand holy and blameless before Him.
So also, husbands and wives are required not to just spend time with one another, but invest time with each other. There is a big difference between spending time and investing time. Spending time means the time spent will be lost, but investing time means that the time spent together will be gained back meaningfully. Isn’t it therefore a grim situation that many husbands think that the time spent at home with their wives is a waste of time?
Generally a couple who are engaged to be married spend loads of time communicating with one another, looking for any and every opportunity to be together. However, often after a few years of marriage, it seems that both get so preoccupied with other things, that they hardly have time for each other. The truth of the matter is, if husband and wife invest in spending quality time with each other, they will most certainly reap the benefits of that investment. We usually spend maximum time on the thing that we love most, so let us decide to make our spouse our priority, and revive the love that we had for each other in those early years of our marriage. Let us take time to listen to each other, hear each other’s problems and to be understanding of what the other is going through. Many husbands spend much time at work and wives spend much time with the television or social media, thereby losing out on spending significant time with each other.
We read in Genesis 26:8, And when he had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing with Rebekah his wife. (BBE)
In the above mentioned incident, Abimelech, king of the Philistines looked out of the window and saw Isaac was playing with his wife. Isaac was a wealthy man, had loads of responsibilities but yet he took time out to play with his wife and spend time with her.
When was the last time you went out of the way to give a special treat or gift to your spouse? Today many husbands and wives shy away even from holding each other’s hands. When children watch their parents clasp hands, pray together and be loving to one another, they will never go astray, choosing to fall for the first person they meet outside who shows some sort of affection to them. A husband and wife must be so loving to each other that their children desire to have a family just like their parent’s, and that responsibility lies solely with the parents. Husband and wife must practice saying ‘I love you’ to one another, hold hands and thank each other for the support they are to each other. When children don’t get the love, affection and encouragement from home, one can be certain that they will go all out to receive it from those outside, and end up in messy relationships.
Young girls need to be cautioned that when someone comes and proposes to them here are a few questions they need to ask before getting into a relationship. Is the young man a child of God, is he responsible to work, earn and support the family, will he stay with you even when you’re beauty is gone and protect you at all times? If you do not get an answer to these questions, you can be sure you are making a wrong choice. It is really unfortunate that so many young girls make a wrong choice, and end up later with much regret and grief.
Isaac was blessed in his marriage because he continued with his work that was entrusted to him, submitted to God, and his father, for choice of his life partner. As Abraham sent his servant to go and get a bride for Isaac from his own people, Isaac waited patiently for the Lord to bring the right woman to him. Isaac got to see his bride Rebekah only on the day of his marriage.
Today things have changed so much that many young people want to know everything about the person that they are going to marry. Some are taking this to the extreme, and want to have live-in relationships to check out their compatibility even before entering into the holy matrimony of marriage. God does not approve of these relationships, and one can be sure that those who decide to not wait for marriage, are subjecting themselves to much complications, subjecting themselves to God’s curse on them, and on the generations to come.
It is important that husbands and wives must keep each other informed about each other’s whereabouts, and all that happens in each other’s day. When we don’t communicate and spend meaningful time with each other it will definitely lead to many problems. If as husband and wife we are not accountable to each other on the time we spend with each other, and apart from each other, one day our children will not be accountable to us, ending up doing whatever they want to do. Young men and women also should be accountable to their parents, and keep them informed of their daily schedule. If parents are not accountable in every area of their lives, family, society, job, church and submit to the authority that God has ordained, we can be certain our children will rebel, disobey us and feel no necessity to be accountable to us.
Time is God’s gift to us, so let us be accountable to Him. Let us decide as families that we will spend time with our spouse, share all that happens in our day with each other, appreciate them and make memories so that the times we spend with each other will always be the happiest ones. If we decide to follow this principle, God will do great things through our families and through our children in the generations to come.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
