A Wise Woman understands the value, influence and impact that her home has upon all her surroundings. She takes the time to position her home and prepare it to serve the community around her. As she prays for opportunities, lost neighbors and strangers she has yet to meet, she is not just found just waiting on the Lord and doing nothing---but she diligently prepares. She purposefully creates an atmosphere that is pleasurable and one that is ready for visitors at a drop of a hat. If this thought makes you cringe, then we must evaluate our motives.
Ministering to those in the home is not a show, we must understand this if we want to use our homes to impact the Kingdom. If we begin to feel the urge to impress people with the cleanliness or stateliness of our homes and our possessions we are missing the mark. Satan loves to take something that is intended as God's blessing and pervert it. He would also like to confuse our motives of having an orderly, God pleasing home and encourage our sinful flesh to be concerned with the worldly aspects of hospitality---the one the world sends of perfectionism and pride.
Christian hospitality operates from love. It is humble and doesn't care or mind that imperfections may be glaring. It understands that this world is temporary and that there is a spiritual battle that must be fought. Positioning our homes as a place of respite helps to combat the war in and outside of our front doors. If we do not understand this we allow some of God's greatest blessings to be stolen from us. Trying to look perfect to the world is a false representation of who we are. There is no one perfect except Christ alone. Think of how you were encouraged as a young mother to visit other homes that were not in perfect pristine conditions.
As Wise Women we need to plan and pray. We need to get our homes ready today for the visitors the Lord will bring tomorrow, we need to be wise managers of our household affairs, wise trainers of our children, and and wise planners to best execute the positioning of our homes.
Most importantly, we need to prepare what the Lord's priority's are---having a right heart. Not one that is self-centered, self exalting or grumbling but one that overflows with love, friendship, acceptance and encouragement to bring Him glory to a lost, needy and dying world.
************************
************************
No comments:
Post a Comment