Build Your House God's Way
When Joshua proclaimed in Joshua in 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” he was saying that he and his family would follow God. At that time, Baal worship was prevalent, as was rampant sexual immorality. Pagans worshipped the sun, moon, and stars.
What Joshua proclaimed was that his family would be set apart for God. His family—his house—would go against the current culture.
What Is a Christian Family?
A Christian family is designed by God to be an H-O-U-S-E: a Holy Objective Utilized to Serve Everyone.
H Is for Holy
Our house should be a holy habitat. In the Old Testament, God’s dwelling was the tabernacle or the temple. But when Jesus came, he declared that we are the temple. It means that now God lives in us. My body—my house—is a home for Jesus.
It means we're set apart. It means the family unit should glorify God because it reflects the sum total of his splendor and holiness. It should be reflected in everything we do, say, touch, and feel, in every single family member.
O Is for Objective
The objective of a Christian family is to teach and train our children to leave. The Bible says “Train up a child in the way he should go….” Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV). And again in Deuteronomy 6:7 (NKJV), “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
In today's culture, because so many kids are living at home, we like to say, ‘Oh yeah, I'm teaching and training my kids to….’ They're still at home. Instead, we must teach them to leave and cleave.
Genesis 2:24 (NKJV), "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. And the two shall become one flesh." We're waiting too long to get married. I've got a word for singles: just get married.
U Is To Be Utilized
We're also to be utilized in the family. We should be leveraged to do some great stuff. That's where we learn about life. If I'm utilized, I understand the purpose for which I was intended. Where do we learn about conflict resolution? Where do we see it played out? The family. Where do we learn about sharing? In family. Where do we learn about teamwork? In the family. Where do we learn about helping and holding and being sensitive to one another's needs? In the family. Again, a house is designed by God to be a ‘holy objective utilized to serve everyone.’
S Is for Serve
We learn to serve one another in the Christian family. Each person has a role and we learn to serve each other. We also serve others through the church and through missions.
E Is for Everyone
We have an opportunity to mark everyone who sees the Christian family working right—not perfectly—but working right. When we're born again, the Bible says we're adopted into the family of God. The blood of Jesus has washed all of us and we're grafted into the family of God. If you want to know how to run your house, run to the house of the Lord, and simply just make the declaration as Joshua did.
A Christian Family Is a Covenant
In Joshua 24:25-27 (NIV), it says, “On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord. ‘See!’ he said to all the people.‘This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.’”
It's important to write down and rehearse and to rewind and tell your kids the blessings of God in the past. Remind them of the blessings of God regularly. ‘We prayed for this and this happened.’ Or ‘We prayed that this couple would come to know Jesus and they became believers.’ ‘Do you remember when you were sick? You don't really remember it. We prayed for you and now you're healed.’ It's important to say, ‘We were generous to the house of God, and look what God has done.’ We try to do that constantly.
A Christian Family Is a Foundation
I remember when I was in southeast Florida with a friend of mine and we were looking at this house. It was early one morning, and I noticed the people who were staying at the house were sipping their morning coffee. The ocean was right in front of them and I said, "Is that a great house or what?"
He said, "It is, Ed, but it's not going to be here for very long."
I said, "What do you mean? It looks great to me."
He said, "Look where it's built. The next storm to come through will wipe this place out. It's built on sand. The foundation’s not secure.”
And as we know, a house is only as good as its foundation. A Christian family is a foundation for our lives.
Build Your House on the Rock
Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV), “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Have you built your house on the sand, or have you built it on the rock?
Declare Your Foundation Secure
We can make a personal, public, and powerful pronouncement as we say, "Lord Jesus, I want to build my house on this rock. This can be and will be a reminder to you and me of this declaration because for me in my house, we are going to serve the Lord."
Next Steps
If you aren’t sure whether your foundation is built on sinking sand or solid rock, ask God to show you His plan for your life. Surrender your future to Him and He will give you a firm foundation on which to securely build your faith and your family.
Join us online or in person at Fellowship Church to learn more about God’s design for the Christian family.