Your Daily Devotional for August 24, 2006

 

August 24, 2006

 

A Duracell Family

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;”

 

Joshua 24:14-16

 

One of our goals at Lancaster Baptist Church is to help families. During the past twenty years of ministry, I have had the privilege of serving and working with hundreds of families. While every home is special to God, I have been able to distinguish a few different types of homes.

 

First, there is the Duracell family. They just keep going and going and going. They persist through hard times and easy times. They are characterized by children who love their parents and who love spending time with them. Also, the husband and wife are not only in tune with each other, but they are in tune with God.  Of course, they are not perfect.  They have their share of struggles and arguments, but this type of family is founded on the principles of God’s Word.

 

The next is the generic brand family. The average family in America today, the generic, is slowly dimming and slowly failing with every passing day. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the two, but they eventually show themselves and you can tell them apart.

 

You can sometimes tell through a tone of voice or criticism between couples, fighting between children and their parents, an indifference to affection, and ridiculous disputes. Sometimes there is intense arguing over how to discipline the children. Sometimes they even arrange their schedules so they don’t have to see one another.

 

Think about how your day went yesterday with your family. Could it have been summed up in the word chaos or comfort? Did you pillow your head last night looking forward to another day spent with your family? Or were you dreading waking up for fear of what new argument would take place?

 

This is no way for a Christian to live! How can we see spiritual victories when our family life is a war-zone? God intended for the family to be a place of nurture and growth for the Christian. That is why He described Himself as our Heavenly Father. We are supposed to be one close family that relies upon Him for sustenance.

 

Take a battery test and see how strong your home is today. Do you love coming home at night or do you dread it? Do you love spending time with your family or do you try to get out of the house? Do you have a Duracell family or do you have a dimming family? Ask God to help change your marriage and your home into one of rest and relaxation.

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