All in the Family

By Tom Roberts

There is something especially beautiful to me to see an entire family worship God together.

When I was a young boy, I remember a man who worshipped with the church at home whose wife was a member of a denomination. Each week the family would leave home in separate cars, the man and wife going to different places of worship. Their daughter was pulled between the two.

My own father was not a Christian and he either remained in bed on Sunday morning while we all went to worship, or, as often was the case, expressed his displeasure at our going. The fact that he was not saved tore at our hearts and kept us from being a close family. There was a barrier there that was never removed and sin finally tore the family asunder.

It takes strength and character to keep a family together in Christ. There are strains and stresses that would pull it apart if possible. A husband has problems that are different from a wife’s and understanding is required. And there must be a common bond that binds stronger than the stresses that would tear apart. A family that has Christ as its center is stronger than a family without Him. I admire Joshua’s attitude when he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah” (Joshua 24:15). I admire Cornelius who gathered his household together and said, “We are all here present in the sight of God, to hear all things that have been commanded thee of the Lord” (Acts 10:33).

Husbands and fathers have a special responsibility before the Lord. They are to be heads of their households and guide the family in the way it should go. When a man abdicates this place and fails to lead his family in God’s way, he will have much to answer for in the Judgment. Men, are you facing up to your place of responsibility?

Women are often the strength in the family. Especially is this so when the men are not Christians. But even where men are Christians, it is often the woman who determines whether or not a family will be faithful. It is often left up to the wife to prepare breakfast, get the children ready, and do the multiple chores that are necessary if a family is to be able to attend.

When a wife sleeps late, doesn’t prepare, or doesn’t want to attend, it is extremely difficult for the husband to get everything ready and leave. He can do it, but it is hard. Wives, are you helping or hindering your family in its service to God?

Children can make worship pleasant or a chore. If they are allowed to dominate a family with their whims and dislikes, an hour or two in worship becomes a battle. It is hard to get them ready and then wrestle with them when they had rather stay home and play. As children get older, sullenness can set in and a poor attitude can destroy any worshipful attitude. Young people must come to realize that they are spiritual as well as physical and it is wrong to spend all their time on purely physical pleasures. They must be taught to feed the soul. Young people, do you help matters at home by your attitude or are you part of the problem?

If you haven’t been doing so let me encourage you to worship together as a family this Lord’s Day. Read this article in the presence of the entire family and discuss your hindrances. If each of you will determine to put the Lord first, you can be closer to one another. Don’t let the problems of life short-change your happiness, now or hereafter.

Husbands, wives, children: serve God as a family. Which member(s) of your family are you content to see drift into hell? Do you sit across the breakfast table from a loved one who is lost? Talk humbly and lovingly to him (her) about it. Let them know that your love for them won’t let you sit idly by while they are lost. Do you have young people who are drifting away? Let them read this so they will know you care. Reach out. Fight. Don’t give up. Don’t stop caring. Shed some tears. Pray about it. Determine to remain faithful all alone if you have to, but let them know you don’t want to. You want your family to be in the Lord’s family.

Again, as a young boy, I remember the first Bible class teacher I had, long before I became a Christian. She was faithful but her husband was not a Christian. Year after year, she taught class and lived as she should, teaching her children until they all became Christians. It took over thirty years, but she lived to see the day her husband became a Christian. Thirty years means somewhere in excess of 1,500-1,600 Lord’s Days when she went to worship without her husband. But she lived to see him baptized into Christ. And that is what she wanted all along. Do you want it badly enough to do the same? & (Watchman Magazine, Feb. 1, 2003)

Spiritual Amnesia

By John Waddey

We occasionally hear of folks who for some reason experience amnesia. In the worst cases they suffer the loss of much of their memory and even their sense of identity. For most victims, the amnesia is of relatively brief endurance. For a few, the condition is long lasting. Victims of amnesia are to be pitied.

We see a similar affliction in some 21st century Christians. Something has occurred in their lives causing them to forget their spiritual identity. They forget the foundations of their faith and the fundamental teachings of God's Word that first led them to Christ. Unlike the medical condition, most of those who suffer spiritual amnesia never awake to recover their original faith, conviction and identity as members of Christ's church. Only a rare few recover their former faith and place in the Lord's church.

Onset. The medical condition of amnesia is usually the result of some serious head injury or an illness that plunges a person into a coma, but the onset of spiritual amnesia is slow and for a long while, imperceptible. As it is developing, the victim may well continue to assemble with the church and worship as always. He may continue to speak of important biblical truths in familiar terms and act as if all is well with his soul. But after a few months, or perhaps years, the damage to his faith is evident. Spiritual amnesia is actually more dangerous than the medical condition. The victim of medical amnesia will likely recover from his loss of memory, but spiritual amnesia is generally fatal to the eternal spirit of the victim.

Knowing man's tendency to forgetfulness, God warned the Hebrews as follows: "...take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart..." (Deut. 4:9).

"Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God..." (Deut. 4:23).

"Beware lest thou forget Jehovah thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances..." (Deut. 8:11).

God warns us not to be a "hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh," if we hope to receive His blessing (Jas. 1:25). Peter described a pitiful disciple who had "forgotten the cleansing from his old sins" (II Pet. 1:9).

Unlike medical amnesia, spiritual amnesia can easily be avoided. David vowed: "I will delight myself in thy statues: I will not forget thy word" (Ps. 119:16).

He declared, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her skill, Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth..." (Ps. 137:5-6).

The Creator has placed within our hands the ability to maintain our spiritual memory and thus stay spiritually well and strong.

There are some things the Christian should forget. We should forget the things we left behind when we gave our lives to Jesus (Phil. 3:13). Paul left behind his life and career as a leader in Judaism. We should forget anything that might allure us from God and his sacred paths. The sinful world with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life should be forgotten (I John 2:15-16). False religious views we once held and faulty practices we once engaged in should be forgotten. They are of no value in Christ. When a false teacher teaches a different gospel, one different from that original gospel presented by the Apostles, we should reject and forget it and the false messenger (Gal. 1:6-8)!

May we each and all guard our hearts with diligence (Prov. 4:23), lest we forget what God has done for us; lest we forget our commitment to Christ and his church. Let no alluring sirens cause you to forget your first love (Rev. 2:4). &