Your Daily Devotional for July 31, 2007

 

July 31,  2007

 

 

God's Rewards

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."

 

1 Peter 3:7

 

 

A woman was at home doing some cleaning when the telephone rang. In going to answer it, she tripped on a rug and grabbing for something to hold onto, seized the telephone table. It fell over with a crash, jarring the receiver off the hook. As it fell, it hit the family dog, who leaped up, howling and barking. The woman's three-year-old son, startled by this noise, broke into loud screams. The woman mumbled some angry words. She finally managed to pick up the receiver and lift it to her ear, just in time to hear her husband's voice on the other end say, "Nobody's said hello yet, but I'm positive I have the right number."

 

This story can characterize our home life all too often. Have you ever felt as if one thing after another kept coming into your life and by the end of the day, you had no energy left to do anything? Our human nature desires to simply rest after working hard all day long. But God desires that we would use that time to develop a relationship with our families. We must spend time with our families to guard against indifference in our homes. When we make the choice to actively fight indifference, we will see God's rewards in our lives.

 

One reward we will see in our lives is answered prayer. The last part of our verse today says, "that your prayers be not hindered." When we have a right relationship with our spouses and families, God will hear our prayers.

 

Our prayers can be hindered by many things such as fighting, bitterness, anger, or sin. God desires that we would have a right relationship with Him and with the members of our families. Ephesians 4:26 says, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath." It is a good policy to have in your home that you would resolve any anger or hurt before going to sleep at night. It is true that the softest pillow is a clear conscience. God desires that we would keep sweet fellowship between the members of our family so our prayers will not be hindered.

 

Another reward we will see in our lives is the reward of God's blessings. Have you ever seen someone who had God's blessing on their family and wondered how they did it? I can tell you how! They followed His Word and spent time nurturing their family.

 

God promises that if we will follow Him and seek Him above all other things, He will bless us. That may mean giving up hobbies or favorite TV shows to spend time with our families, but God promises to reward us if we honor and obey Him! When we place God and the spiritual condition of our families above our own desires, we will see God's blessings.

 

Do you find yourself struggling to spend time with your family? In our fast-paced society, you almost need to make an appointment with your children to spend time with them! God desires that we would spend time nurturing our children's hearts into a loving relationship with Him. Ask God to help you battle indifference in your home today. Commit to spending time, one-on-one, with your spouse and with your children sometime in the next few days. As we honor the Lord by putting the families He has given us first in our lives, we will see God's rewards in our lives.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 54-56 • Romans 3

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