Be at Home

Ever wonder where we are to set up shop. Where are we to be all that God would have us be. The answer is where we are. We are to be home working for the LORD.

“⁴and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” – Titus 2:4-5 (ESV)

This morning I read this passage and wonder what I am I to learn today. The passage is titled in my ESV Bible, “Teach Sound Doctrine” and Paul is writing to Titus to encourage him in his ministry. Paul is indicating here the role of men and women and how they raise Godly men and women. Where there is a lot to the passage, I was led to the “working at home” statement. We are to work at home where we are.

Yes, Paul is speaking to women and their role here, but I was struck by an extension of it to all of us as followers of Christ. Men are to leave their mother and father to become one with their wife. Wives are to follow their husbands and run the home. Husbands and wives are to be together at home working.

In Lori and my life together, we have not always been working at “home” together. I used to travel 2-3 weeks a month and even at one point lived away from the family for about 4 months until they could finish the school year and we could again be together. Those times were hard. We were not always on the same page in our family. It was only when we came back together at “home” that things seemed to settle in and become more consistent. Lori even worked as a teacher for a few years in the town about 20 minutes from us and it was not until she got a job where we lived that things settled in.

I say all of the above to show that in our family, we are best when we are together at “home” where we are. We are to be a family where we are and not separated. The wife should be close to “home” to care for things there. The husband should be “home” more than not. Together the husband and wife should use “home” as their base of operations and teach their children to do the same.

When it comes to our Christian life, we should be at “home” where we are. I have written to the idea of having a church home where you are and I do believe that. We should also do the work of Christ right here where we are first of all. Our church vision is, to see “A gospel movement that reaches every person of the Hill Country and is carried to the ends of the earth.” We start right here at home. In my home I am to be at “home” with my wife and family doing the work of the LORD right here at “home”.

In our world today, it is common and socially encouraged to look for opportunity in far exotic places. To make a splash somewhere out there in the world. But the Bible teaches us to start right here at home. We are to first get our own home in order and expand out from there. We are to “Teach Sound Doctrine” at “home” where we are now and then allow that to be carried from there. We start by teaching our children that doctrine in our home and allowing them to carry it out to their home. That is the expansion we are to be looking for. We are to be and work right here at “home” where we are.

Where are you looking to God’s work? Are you seeking to make a big splash somewhere in the world? What if you were to do the work of the LORD, at “home” right where you are as your starting point?

Teach so They Return

I am reading in Psalms again this morning, chapter 51. As I look at my bible, I have been in this chapter a lot over the years. It is no wonder why, the title of the Psalm is “Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God”. Although this morning it is not about me as I have been reminded.

Yes, I look to the LORD for guidance in my life that I might live a life pleasing to Him. I take action to do the work that He has assigned for me. Not for my glory but His.

“¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

And those works are to lead to others growth and learning and lead them to or back to the LORD. Those works are just that, works, not just actions. Righteous actions are important, but those actions are between the LORD and me and do little for the advancement of the gospel in their own right.

“¹⁶For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.”

— Psalm 51:16 (ESV)

The action of sacrifice or burning offerings to the LORD are for me and for others to see in me. I am to demonstrate proper action with the LORD and my faith. But I am also to do the work of Christ and that work is to spread the gospel to those I interact.

“¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.”

— Psalm 51:13 (ESV)

I have to teach as Jesus did. I have to guide others in the Word of the LORD. When I do, those will have the opportunity to come to and/or return to the LORD. They need to be led back to the LORD who they have wandered away from They need to see in me that it is okay to be with and about Him. It is acceptable to worship the LORD. It is where they belong and that the LORD wants them there for His glory. The LORD wants to be there for them. The LORD wants to the relationship with them. The LORD is grateful for their return to Him.

I forget on the regular that my role is to teach. Whether in my role at my worldly job, or in the work I perform for the LORD. I am to teach. I am to give to others that which will benefit them. I also have to remember that I cannot make them accept that which I bring to them. My role is to teach them and then encourage them to accept and use that which they have learned. With the LORD that is no different. I am to teach so that the Word of the LORD reaches. I am to encourage the exploration and continued learning of the Word of the LORD. I am to lead them to the LORD and turn them over to Him to work on their heart. I am to teach them so they have the opportunity to come to Him.

What is your role with the LORD? Are you the constant recipient and are you just taking on actions for yourself? What if you leaned into the work you are called to do and teach so that the sinners will return to the LORD?

Teach Sinners Do Not Envy Them

Is your neighbor a sinner? Do they have things you feel you should have as well? Are they seemingly always on the winning side of things despite their sinful ways? The answer in short is yes. Mine are the same, and guess what, I am a sinner too. I wrote about being restored first and then teaching others sinners and this is an extension of that study this morning.

“³Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” — Matthew 7:3-5 (ESV)

I know, the above passage is about judging others when clearly we are not in the position to do so. It was however the first passage I thought of when reading about envying others for what they have when I am similar to them and should first get my own house in order. I have to remember that I am just as sinful as others and I have to get right first and then, not judge others, but teach them. Not envy them but teach them.

“¹⁷Let not your heart envy sinners,

but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.”

— Proverbs 23:17 (ESV)

Whatever it is in the world, someone else will likely have something that is certainly different and could be more than what we currently have. “The grass is always greener…” This is referring to the idea that what is over there is more than what is right here. Yet, once we get to over there, which then becomes right here, what was is now seen in a different light and become the envy, simply because it is now over there. I know that was a long and confusing circle, but here is the thing I think of, focus on what is in your own back yard and allow that which is not to exist with whose back yard it is currently in. As indicated in the verse above I have to “continue in the fear of the LORD” and not worry with what is not in that scope.

God provides that which I need. Whether it is provision for the sustaining of life here, or the tools and resources to do His work. I have to remember to look to Him for all of it and not look at what others have or the results of their actions and somehow creating a hole in my life. God has provides for His people and that includes me, the sinner. Other sinners are provided for based on their relationship with God. I have to focus on getting my relationship right with Him and then bringing the gospel to others. If those sinners I bring the gospel to see and recognize the need to accept the gift from God, then I have done my part and that will bring joy to the face of God.

What I have is enough. God makes sure of it and what others have are of no consequence to me and my relationship with Christ.

What do you see in those sinners around you that you are envious? Are you more focused on what they have as opposed to what you have? What if you were to simply “continue in the fear of the LORD” and allow Him to provide for you, as a sinner, and then you teach others His way?