November 2, 2005

• DOES MY HOUSEKEEPING BRING GLORY TO GOD?

  
  

  Our Pastor has been teaching out of Matthew 5 (and now going into Matthew 6) for quite a few months. I love this type of teaching (expository). Not only does it help in avoiding the error of  taking verses out of context but it also helps in memorization because we are reviewing previous verses each week before we begin our new study.

  
  

  So, in my daily bible study I have been reviewing these same Scriptures. This morning as I read verses 14-16, I began thinking about my influence in the home and in my neighborhood. Daily, our lives need to be examined by the Word of God.

  
  

  Matt 5:14-16 - ”You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  ”Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

  
  

  This morning my husband and I had our alarm set for 4:15 a.m. At that time in the morning the house is very, very dark. But, once my husband set foot out of bed and turned the light on, it dispelled the darkness and we were able to see clearly.

  
  

  A Christian woman should be living in such a godly way that the light within her is so BRIGHT that it cannot be hid.  I was really meditating on this and became excited as I thought about it.

  
  

  Think about what ‘LIGHT’ is able to do…

  
  

  Light drives away darkness!

  
  

  Light exposes things that are lost in the dark!

  
  

  Light helps us to see our next step!

  
  

  Light helps guide us, lead us, directs us! 

  
  

  Light helps us to find our way when we are lost!

  
  

  Light helps us find something that is lost!

  
  

  Light is warming and welcoming…

  
  

  So how do we ‘let OUR light shine’?

  
  

  Immediately following the two verses above we are given a ‘how to’ of letting our lights shine before our family’s.

  
  

  Matt 5:16 - ”Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

  
  

  The word ‘works’ in Greek means to ‘work, toil (an an effort or occupation, by an act.
  

  
  

  We are given many exhortations from Scripture as to what our ‘work’ is to be as a godly woman. Here is just one verse of many.

  
  

  
  Titus 2:4-5 - That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
  

  
  

  It’s sobering to think that by not loving our children or husbands or by not being a worker at home we may be dishonoring God’s Word. It’s sobering to think that I blaspheme God’s Word when I don’t subject myself to my husband.  Or that my housekeeping can dishonor His name.

  
  

  Did you know that a ‘keeper at home’ means a ‘good housekeeper?’ (It has other implications, too). Here is the Greek definition from Vine’s Expository for the Word ‘keepers at home’:

  
  

  Keepers at home: 3626  oikourgos: a guard,  a stayer at home, i.e. domestically inclined (a “good housekeeper”):

  
  

   The way I keep my home has eternal value! It’s considered a ‘good work’.  The way I keep my home can either glorify God or blaspheme His name. Think about it…. are you as likely to take counsel from a Christian woman if you see her home is completely out of control? Our housekeeping means something to God and says something to those who live in our families and in our neighborhood.

  
  

  Just as light is able to bring hope to a dark world our disobedience to God’s Word can partially hide that light in a way that may cause other’s to stumble. Or just as frightening … that they not listen to our testimony of Christ.

  
  

  I used to buy low wattage light bulbs to save on electricity. The older I get the more my old eyes need every ounce of light they can get to read and do any kind of close up work. The lower watt bulbs do not give out enough light for me to see clearly. So it is with our daily lives if we do not obey God’s Word. We dim that light so that it loses it’s effectiveness and may hinder the walk of those who are watching.

  
  

  Our lives are being examined daily. Not just by our husbands and our children but by those who live in our neighborhoods, our immediate family and in our churches.  If our light is BRIGHT it will not only influence our families but shine forth from our home windows to impact a lost, dark world.

  
  

  We may never go to a foreign land and teach the Gospel but in our own little homes God has given us the opportunity to live our lives in such a way that will impact all those who come in contact with us as we obey His Word.

  
  

  Jesus is that light….

  
  

  “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  ”For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. “And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. “Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms.

  
  

   Isa 60:1-4
  

  
  

  
  
   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  • 11:29 am
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