Tuesday, August 26, 2014

We're All "Keepers at Home"

Now that I am retired–having had a “day job” throughout my married life—I’ve found housekeeping can consume most of my time, if I let it. Tasks that might have gone days (OK, weeks) in the past now haunt me as I pass them multiple times in a day. Yes, I’m a “neat freak,” whose penchant for everything in its place can drive me crazy.

But housekeeping is more than a certain standard of cleanliness. According to Titus 2:4-5, it’s in the category with godly virtues such as love, purity, and kindness. When he wrote, “To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home …” (v. 5), perhaps Titus recognized that a “keeper” is one who guards, protects, and takes care of something of value. For example, a doorman watches and approves all that passes through the door for which he is responsible.

In her book, Living in a Zoo, Brenda Lancaster writes to the keepers of the home, “You are to watch for anything that will be harmful to the inhabitants who dwell there,” making sure “that only the godly and upright things are allowed to enter your gates!”

Keepers of the home—and many guys stand guard duty, as well—are careful to protect their homes from intruders that may enter through the TV, Internet, books, and magazines. If you wouldn’t let an evil person through your doors, don’t let him or her in through wires and cables. Otherwise, we demonstrate way too much confidence in our own abilities to overcome temptations. And we “tempt God” as we demand that He rescue us from the pitfalls of perusing sinful living. If you wouldn’t want someone else to see or read it, don’t excuse yourself.

Guard your home—not just in front of the children or grandchildren—but as a way to demonstrate “sensible, pure, workers at home (NASB).”

Image courtesy of Iamnee at FreeDigitalPhotos.net