God Built Homes

One thing is clear as we looking at our culture. Our society is in a moral free fall, and our homes are a disaster. You don’t need statistics to understand this. Anyone who reads a daily newspaper is fed up with all the examples. Our country is in a mess, morally bankrupt – and in debt up to our ears. But while no one would dispute these facts, very few people have any idea what went wrong or how we can correct the problem. But there is an answer.

Billy Graham gives us the reason for this situation in his book, World Aflame:

“The immutable law of sowing and reaping has held sway. We are now the hapless possessors of moral depravity, and we seek in vain for a cure. The tares of indulgence have overgrown the wheat of moral restraint. Our homes have suffered. Divorce has grown in epidemic proportions. When the morals of a society are upset, the family is the first to suffer. The home is the basic unit of our society, and a nation is only as strong as her homes. The breaking up of a home does not often make headlines, but it eats like termites at the structure of a nation. As a result of the mounting divorces, separations, and desertions, about twelve million of the forty five million children in the United States (over one fourth) do not live with both parents. A vicious cycle is in motion. The Bible says, ‘The Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’ (Jer. 31:29).”

How true it is. But what is the answer?

The answer is that God must build our homes. God’s Word must show us how. Most people would admit that they really wish they could have a good, solid family. That’s what they really want most of all. But what few people are willing to admit is that a strong family is possible if we would only follow the rule book God gave us that rule book. The rule book, of course, is the Bible, the Word of God. God thought up this idea of family, and God brought Adam and Eve together. He knows what makes family work.

Unfortunately, few people are unwilling to follow the rules God set down. The mess we are in proves it. Yet, we desperately need to mend the fractures in our domestic bones. We need help for our families. And if we don’t find it, the skeleton of our society is surely going to collapse.

Psalm 127: 1 says: “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” The Lord, Himself, must be the center of our homes, the foundation upon which we build. God must be the one directing the construction. If we try to build our homes any old way, it simply won’t work. We must let God build it.

“Yeah, right,” you say. “God doesn’t use a hammer or nails. How does He build our homes?”

Here is the answer. God is the general contractor. We, as husband and wife, are the sub-contractors. God builds our homes using our labor. And we must build according to His specifications. He gives us the blue print, and He supplies the tools. He expects us to use them. We cannot, we must not, deviate from His specifications; not without paying a terrific price in disastrous consequences of a home that cracks and settles and crumbles under pressure.

To build our homes any other way than by using God’s plan is vain, empty, and useless. You can work, strive, fret, worry, plan, and do whatever you want; but if the Lord is not the very center of your home, it’s all in vain. If you build without following the blue print found in the Word of God, it’s all in vain.

Follow the world’s prescription and you’ll get fractured families. You’ll get children born to unwed mothers. You’ll get over a million children each year slaughtered in the womb. Those children born alive will grow up into angry, rebellious young adults. The world presents a recipe for disaster. God presents a recipe for success. But you can have a God built home. Make Him the center of your home. Follow His blue print. Only then can you expect success.