Home "making" -- Settling Your Heart

When recently taking a fresh look at Titus 2:3-5, I paused to consider the charge to be "homemakers" or "keepers at home", a sorely needed ministry in our day and age. A look at the "immoral woman" of Proverbs 7 , also known as "the wayward wife" in the NIV, brought renewed perspective on the call to keep our hearts firmly planted at home. Homemaking is to be our primary ministry. When our feet are missing from the halls of our homes too much, trouble is soon afoot (couldn't resist that one.) See what the Good Book has to say about the wayward and immoral woman who is absent from her home (with added emphasis):

Proverbs 7:11, 12 She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks. NIV

Proverbs 7:11, 12 She was the brash, rebellious type who never stays at home. She is often seen in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner. NLT

Proverbs 7:11, 12 Brazen and brash she was, restless and roaming, never at home, Walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town. The Message

I know that it is easy in this culture -- and more and more necessary -- to be busy away from the coziness of our abode, to become what is kiddingly known as a "roadrunner"; but let this scripture be a warning to us all. When our time and energy investments become greater in any place other than home, we endanger ourselves, our families, and those homes. Jesus said that where your treasure is there will your heart be also. When you invest your time and energy, your heart soon follows. Your heart will become divided or even given to something other than your home and family. Look around you -- this effect is everywhere present; women are torn between career and family, self-fulfillment and service, independence and dependence.

I experience this sensation when I involve myself in a season of service outside my home. I must say that it is easy to be drawn away to a world where there may be greater self satisfaction, a sense of instant gratification, and more accolades. Let's not kid ourselves. There is a reason why women throughout time have run from the homefires. There are seasons of great fulfillment in keeping a home, it is true. But there are just as many seasons of plain ol' hard work. Raw commitment may need to be drawn upon more than once.

Does this mean we shouldn't involve ourselves with any outside matters or projects? Remember the Proverbs 31 woman -- she ministered to the poor, she was active in the market place, she purchased a vineyard. These were all beyond her own doorstep. The key, as always in the kingdom, is your heart. Don't allow it to wander. Reign it in when it becomes distracted. Be honest in your assessments of where your affections lie and do what you must to bring them back home.

Living in this day and age requires more time away from the home than perhaps was once standard fare. Choose your commitments and activities carefully, nurture your heart for hearth and home, guard the treasure of family and that place of refuge that should be found within your walls. If you necessarily have been through a busy season, cut back outside activity as soon as possible so that you and yours can re-establish those ties to home and family. It is vital for you and for them.

Why should we busy ourselves with making homes front and center? What's wrong with the changes that are prevalent in our society today? We'll talk about that next time!