My wife, Pauline, and I recently celebrated our Diamond Wedding Anniversary, and not surprisingly, it brought back memories of that eventful day. As someone blessed with quite a good memory there are advantages and disadvantages. One distinct advantage is I can recall the four headings that the man who took our wedding shared with us. Because of legitimate time restraints, he left us to develop the guidance in more detail.
The four he proposed were – The Lord in the home, Prayer in the home, Bible reading in the home; The Lord’s people in the home. This last suggestion was not intended to exclude non-Christians, but more a reflection of the Bible quote from Hebrews 10 verse 25 – not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. This verse has been quoted to encourage people to attend church, but I consider it an encouragement to enjoy fellowship outside the church as well. We have been blessed as, over the years, we have enjoyed times together in our home, in the street and sharing meals.
I particularly remember two occasions when we opened our home to two separate families, one from Essex and the other missionaries from Tibet. Living in unusually cramped conditions, initial apprehension at what we offered was replaced with a lovely time of sharing.
The four headings, in our case, and hopefully yours, are as necessary today as when shared with us 60 years ago
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, as we reflect on past blessings, may we continue to hold fast to those that encourage a right relation with You and each other.