It is interesting that the Lord first mentions “house” in the case of Noah. “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” Why did God say that? Because the world had become full of violence and corruption. This is when the household takes on special significance. God, seeing the deterioration of the fallen creation, has given us the household as a domain of protection and blessing. This is particularly important to us today because we are seeing moral degeneration and the increase of violence and corruption around us. This violence and corruption, which has always existed, is made much more available through the media. It is now easily available in our houses, so it is necessary to face this issue in our households. How are we going to shelter and protect our children, and on what principle are we going to bring blessing to them? There isn’t a Christian parent who doesn’t want to bless and to be a source of blessing to their household. We all want that. The problem is we may want it in different ways than what God intended.
I know that we all have made mistakes, but I would like to share with you some of the principles that have encouraged me, some principles from the Word of God for my faith to lay hold of to carry me through. In Acts 11:1414Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. (Acts 11:14) we read, “Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.” Isn’t that wonderful? God Himself has set out to bless our children. As a mother, you are protective by nature and need to be careful about where your children go and with whom you entrust them. We know, however, that we can’t always protect them, so by faith we claim God’s promise that He Himself wants to bless our children — and He will. Think about Moses’ parents. When Moses went to Pharaoh’s court, God protected him there. Jochebed, who was the daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:16,18,2016And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. (Exodus 6:16)
18And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. (Exodus 6:18)
20And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. (Exodus 6:20)) had to be a very old woman when she gave birth to Moses, so she probably did not live to see the blessing that Moses became to God’s people. But she had faith. She lived by faith! And this is the key ingredient to this subject. By faith Moses was hid (Heb. 11:2323By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. (Hebrews 11:23)), and he lived his later life in faith. By faith, let us live in the presence of God for and with our households.
Talk on “Grace for the Household” by Doug Buchannan—adapted