Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
STRENGTHEN YOUR FAMILY
Talking about the home, Isaiah 54:2 states: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and STRENGTHEN thy stakes.”
I believe it is time to strengthen our marriages, homes, and families.
Our precious young people live in a society where they are surrounded by deception, evil, and violence on TV and social media. Broken homes are normal. Divorce is a way of life and yet divorce destroys the lives of children. They are never the same again. It’s not what God planned. He plans for children to live in a home with a father and mother who love one another and who are committed to strengthen and build their family together. This assignment is more important than anything else they do in in life.
All the government programs, and even church programs, are only crutches. They are not the real thing. The real thing is stable family life with a father and mother who are committed to their family—even before their careers and every project they do in life.
The word “strengthen” in this Scripture is “chazaq” and means: “to be bound fast, to be attached, to make firm, to cleave, to be constant, to support, to preserve, to hold fast, and to strengthen.” It means to make your roots deep. The HCSB translates it: “Drive your pegs deep.” The NET says: “Pound your stakes deep.” This is what we must do with our marriage and family life. We’ve got to dig in deep.
Why don’t you try to do at least one thing each day to strengthen your marriage and your home life? Establish family togetherness at your meal table. Think of special things you can do as a family in the evenings at home. Don’t always be rushing out. Make your home life rich and exciting.
That’s what you call building. Each one of us either builds into our marriage and home or we pull it down. Proverbs 14;1 says: “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.”
Are you building into your marriage and home today?
Nancy Campbell
Painting: Laurts Tuxen