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June 2005 No. 234 God in Our Home * What Type Pattern * Search the Scriptures *Meetings * Contact Information
God
In Our Home How would life in our homes change if God
came to live with us today? No doubt all of us would take on new form with the
Lord of Hosts just down the hall in the guest room. Interestingly, the Old
Testament contains a story like this. Almost three thousand years ago, the home
of Obed-edom had an unexpected visitor to come and stay with them for three
months. We don’t have a lot of information about
how life changed for this family, but it stands to reason that a few things must
have happened. First, because of what had just happened to Uzzah, this family
knew that the Lord made no exceptions for the laws that pertained to the Ark.
Second, they must have not only obeyed the commands regarding the Ark, they also
lived appropriately before the Lord. These things are evident because the
“Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom”—receiving the blessing of the Lord
during the time of the Old Testament was a symbol of righteous living. Just imagine what it must have been like
for the Ark of the Covenant to be in their home. The Ark was the most precious
object of their religious system. It was crafted some 400 years earlier, covered
fully on the inside and out with gold. Two golden cherubims with wings
outstretched toward each other made up the mercy seat on top of the Ark—it was
from this place that the Lord himself communed with the High Priest’s only
once each year. Moses, Joshua, and many other historical heroes had seen the Ark
and communed with the Lord before it. The Ark had gone with the priests into the
Jordan River and the waters parted allowing all twelve tribes of Israel to pass
over into Cannan. And how many more stories about the Ark that this family would
have known that we do not have recorded! Imagine how important the Declaration
of Independence is to the USA—what if it came to stay in your home
unexpectedly? This probably doesn’t begin to equal the impact the Ark coming
to this family’s home had. Living righteously with the Ark in their
home probably was not difficult. Naturally, with such a ready reminder of God
being in their home, living in a way that was pleasing to God would have been
easy. Each time they passed the room or the place in the home where the Ark was
kept, it would have been a reminder of God and His power. He would have been on
their minds often—more often perhaps than if they had always kept the Law
fully. This increased awareness of God would have shaped their conduct at home
privately, within their close relationships among family, and likely would have
spread out into their public lives with friends and co-workers.
Putting ourselves into this story is easy.
We can feel the significance of having the Ark of God in our homes, of having a
reminder of God close to us. With this in mind, let’s consider a few things
that might change in our lives today if this story did come true. From a
personal standpoint, praying “without ceasing” would become natural (I Thes
5:17), as would regular devotion to God’s word and meditation upon His truths.
We would no longer struggle with being “conformed to this world” (Rom 12:2),
and we would truly live “after the spirit” at all times (Rom 8). Our
personality and character would develop in ways that displayed the Fruits of the
Spirit openly in all situations (Gal 5:22-23).
As these things develop, living righteously
outside of the home will become easier. Our connection to our brothers and
sisters in Christ will be stronger (Heb 10:24-25), and our light will shine
brightly to the lost (Matt 5:16). It is easy to see how all of these things
can happen with God in our home. Obed-edom and his family experienced God’s
blessings because of righteous living when the Ark visited them for three
months. Fortunately for us today, the time of the
Old Law has passed. No longer is there an object made with hands that holds the
significance of the Ark (Acts 17:24). Now the Holy Spirit is in us—we are
the temple!—when we have obeyed the gospel of Christ and live faithfully
(1 Cor 3:16-17). The question then remains—if God was
pleased with the family of Obed-edom when the Ark was in their home for three
months, would he be pleased with us? It is my prayer that we will always
remember to keep God first in our lives—personally, among our families, and in
our public lives. Chad Prince 919
Pine Cliff Oxford,
AL 36203
What
type of pattern are you setting? Are you setting a pattern of honesty? In 2
Corinthians 4:2, Paul said, “But renounce the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully…”
When a telemarketer calls right before the big game or your favorite show is
starting, do you tell a family member to tell them we are not at home? In Luke
6:31, Jesus said “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye
also to them likewise”. We should treat people the way we would like to be
treated regardless of how they might treat us. Are you setting a pattern of hypocrisy? Do
you cheat on your income tax and then are surprised when you get a call from the
school that your child has been caught cheating on test? Where could they have
gotten the idea that cheating was acceptable to get what they want or think they
deserve? In Matthew 7:5, Jesus said,
“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine eye; and then shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
Jesus was teaching that one should remove one’s own obvious faults before
attempting to correct others. The world is just waiting for a member of the
church to “mess up” to confirm their theory of hypocrisy in the church. As
Christians, we should not give them any material to work with. Are you setting a pattern that cannot be
condemned? In 1 Peter 2:15, Peter said, “For so is the will of God, that
with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”
When someone makes a general accusation that a member of the church is a
sinful person, one might ask for examples of the sinful activity. Then, if you
have set the type of pattern that cannot be condemned, the person might respond
that they could not remember any specific examples or that maybe it was someone
else that they were thinking of. People in the community may even defend you
stating they could never recall you acting in a sinful way.
On the other hand, if you have set a pattern that can be condemned, the
person might give an account of an exact recent event. For example, the accused
person was heard by many cursing at the ball field last Saturday at 2:00 P.M.
Peter also said in 1 Peter 3:16, “Having a good conscience; that whereas
they speck evil of you, as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse
your good conversation in Christ.” Conversation here means not only
our speech but also our manner of life. Are you setting a pattern of good works? In
1 Timothy 4:12, Paul told Timothy, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be
thou an example of the believers, in word, conversation, in charity, in
spirit, in faith, in purity.” Do other people see these good works in your
life? In Titus 2:11-14, Paul wrote “For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this
present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might
redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works.”. Do we live a Christian life that exhibit’s a pattern of
good works? Do you set a pattern of repentance? When
you do sin, do others see you as a person who is willing to admit that wrong and
do all you call to make things right? Pride sometimes keeps us from true
repentance. In Luke 15:10, Jesus said, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is
joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repented.”
If there is joy in Heaven over our actions, we should not worry about
what anyone on earth thinks about us. Someone is watching the pattern you are
setting in your life. Where will it lead them if they follow you and your
pattern? Let us all strive to live a
life that is a
pattern of: honesty, without hypocrisy, a lifestyle that cannot be condemned,
good works, and repentance. Mark
Carpenter 266
County Road 466 Woodland,
Alabama 36280
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES
THE HARVESTER is a monthly publication intended to encourage all men everywhere to become laborers into God’s harvest (Luke 10:2). This paper is mailed free of charge to anyone who wishes to receive it. Please submit name, address, and all correspondence to: The Harvester 141 County Road 474 Woodland, AL 36280 Phone: (256) 449-9221
Email: raymcmanus@hotmail.com |
