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Riverside Bulletin--11-09-08--"Home for Sale"
"HOME FOR SALE"
A good friend of mine in South Africa once startled me with a crazy but
humorous question. He asked, "Tell me, Al, as an outsider, what do you think of
the human race?" I replied, "I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it
might tend to incriminate me!" Aren't there some strange things written and said
by humans? For example, America has some crazy roadside signs--at least, crazy
to an outsider to the human race. What do I mean by that? To learn
more, stay tuned.
Once I saw a sign that stated, "Quarter horses for sale." Whaaat? How
do you sell a fourth of a horse? Is it a head and a fore leg? Is it a lonely
hind leg--maybe with the tail thrown in for cash? Then I saw a car with the sign
on it, "For Sale by Owner." Pray tell, who else would or could sell the thing
but the owner? The owner may be an individual or a lending institution, but the
owner is the owner is the owner! I have never tried to sell something that did
not belong to me. Are you getting my drift here? This list is not exhaustive.
Tonight I saw a sign that really blew me away--"Home for Sale." Why
would anybody want to sell their home? I can understand why someone might want
to sell their house, but their home (?). A house is a
structure where a family places their home, right? Then I got to
thinking--maybe this is a commentary on our times. Perhaps people are selling
out their homes. We live in an age where the sanctity of the home
is being attacked and disparaged. Ephesians 6:1-4 undoubtedly recognizes "Mom,
Dad and the Kids." The best thing a daddy can do for his kids is to love their
mother and vice versa, Ephesians 5:22-33. When the Bible cries out against
adultery, Matthew 19:18, it is not trying to rob anyone of his happiness as some
assert. It is emphasizing the essential nature of the home as a module of a
sound society. "As goes the home, so goes the nation!"
The nest-building syndrome is vital to a well-ordered society. Until a man
establishes a home, he is a rolling stone who gathers no moss. Some may
smilingly add that he is gathering no "boss," too. It is also said, "Before a
man marries he is incomplete, but after he's married, he's finished!" Seriously,
a godly home is a place of tranquility. It is a haven of peace where a wounded
warrior in the daily grind of life can turn aside for rest and recreation once
again. The world can be cold, cruel and unforgiving. That special ingredient
that the home provides is the answer to the despair that competing in this world
precipitates. We need each other.
The spouse who abandons home because the grass is greener next door has
sold his or her home for thirty pieces of silver. That one is a
covenant-breaker. The parent who places business above his boy or golf above his
girl has sold out his home. Taking a vested interest in the ones whom
God has entrusted to our care shows an understanding of our God-given
responsibilities. That is what we said "yes" to the one with whom we made a
covenant of love. We marry to be together. We marry to deal with our "alone-ness."
God said, "it is not good for man to be alone, I will make a help meet suitable
for him," Genesis 2:18-25. So what do we do? We marry and take each other for
granted. We marry and abandon one another for the vain activities of this world.
Then we wonder why our relationship fell apart. The reason was obvious--we sold
our home for a mess of pottage.
Remember, you can have a home even if you don't have a house
to put it in. So, sell the house if you must, but hang on to that
home. It just could be a foretaste of heaven on earth. Never break it.
Never sell it. Never put a "HOME FOR SALE" sign on your house. It is your most
precious possession in this life.
Love you all,
Al--"The Horne of Africa."
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