JOSHUA 24:15 – And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
THEME OF THE DAY: A GOSPEL-SCENTED HOME. So, let’s imagine I stayed in your home for a week. I am invisible and never speak. You don’t see or hear me, but I am privileged to observe everything that happens in your home and with your family. This includes every conversation, activity, attitude, and how your time is spent to include your phone, computer, and television. Outside of your home, I see you in church, active in the Lord’s service, and you have a reputation of being a faithful Christian. After the seven days are over and I leave your home, would I be able to affirm your public profession of faith in Christ by your private life in your home? Or would I be sad, confused, and realize I have just witnessed a contradiction? Now, that doesn’t mean a perfect home, but it does mean a home where the family reads the Bible, prays together, serves one another, confesses sin, repents, and seeks to model Christ in conduct and speech. Again, not a perfect Christian home, but a real Christian home.
Our homes are to be “Gospel scented” where the sweet fragrance of Jesus’ Person is influencing those in it, and those who visit us – But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere (2 Corinthians 2:14). Our homes should always have a welcome sign on its front door knowing it is a place where Jesus is represented, loved, honored, obeyed and shaping the conduct, attitude and words of all those within its walls. In a very real sense, our homes should be one where the climate of evangelism is present. Unbelievers who visit us should see “Jesus in action” and prompt interest. Oh, it might take a few times, but when Jesus is the center of a home, it will be noticed. But our homes are also to be those places of edification and encouragement when believers come. The impact would be significant on God’s people if the reputation of our families were Philemon-like – I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you (Philemon 4-7).
So, imagine I am coming tonight to your home for a week. Remember, you won’t know I am there. Would you need to do some “Gospel-tidying up” before my arrival? I hope not. I pray I am coming to a “Gospel-scented home.”
PRAYER: “Father, make my public profession of being a Christian affirmed by what I am in the privacy of my home and with my family.”
QUOTE: “To be a Christian is a 24/7 commitment and that means what we are perceived in public must be validated in private.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim