1332. The Home, and Pure Religion
The Home, and Pure Religion
"And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luk_1:6).
We would not suggest that the home should be made religious from the hyper-puritanical stand-point. There are some things, however, certainly should be prominent in a Christian home.
1. The children should be dedicated to Christ. Is there anything more beautiful in the Word of God than that scene where Hannah brings little Samuel and offers him to the Lord? For the child she had long prayed. When God heard her petitions she greatly rejoiced and exulted in the Lord, and said, "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore also have I lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord."
Is not the promise true, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house"? Should not every one say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"? Let us claim, then, our children for God and dedicate them unto God.
2. Live Christ before them. John the Baptist was born in a home where both parents were "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."
Every child has a right to just such an environment in their home. The little ones are coming in our tracks and we need to live Christ before them.
3. Establish the family altar. First, we should pray for our children. This is what the Syro-Phoenician woman did. She said, "Lord, help me! my daughter is grievously vexed of a demon." Surely, we should all have our children upon our hearts so deeply that they will always be in our prayers.
Secondly, we should pray with our children. A missionary returning to the United States, after many years abroad, said that the change he noticed more than anything else, was the loss of the family altar.
Charles H. Spurgeon, slipping in late one night, stole up-stairs and caught a sight he said he never forgot. His children gathered around their mother, while she was praying with them.
Some one said once that the real capital of the United States was the HOME. If this is true we need a home life which is distinctly Christian.
As to the pictures on the wall, the home should carefully watch them. They have far more to do with character-building than many suppose. Pictures which portray anything unseemly, or impure, or even those pictures which suggest impurity, should never be allowed in the home. Wall cards, with well-selected Scripture mottoes, are most salutatory.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR