Family

I spent most of the weekend at a conference about family life. Don't ask why, I don't know. I was asking the same question myself before it started..."why am I going to a weekend about family...I'm not bringing one up, and probably won't, so what's this about?!"

The guy that was leading it started the Friday night session by reading a bit from the Psalms, where it says "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land" (Psalm68:5-6). It occured to me then that when I have been lonely, God has set me in a family - namely the church. And when I have felt imprisoned, He has led me forth with singing. So in that sense, looking at the church as my family, it seemed like a good plan.

But he made it clear that he was talking about family as in family, the value of the traditional husband/wife/children model that scripture encourages. He said that the reason we see these traditional values being rejected by society is that the enemy knows that God works and reveals things through family (ie the things family teaches us about communication, protection, putting others first, etc). "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm11:3)

Then he went on to talk about the fact that the way we treat our families and those close to us is the evidence of our love for God, not our outward appearances at church etc. "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1John4:20-21)

It was really interesting and useful when he went into the differences between men and women, and what women need in a partnership (ie marriage). It's an area that I've been really preoccupied with recently (potential family rather than existing family!!).

The end of the weekend was brilliant. The guy finished his talk and was leaving the stage when he changed his mind. "Actually, come back, I'm feeling the need to preach!!". He turned to the story of Abraham and Isaac. To paraphrase, Abraham had the knife and was about to sacrifice his son Isaac for God but God told him to stop, and not to lay a hand on the boy because He saw that Abraham was prepared to put God first...

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Basically, when we do what is right, put God first, he promises ("I swear by myself, declares the Lord") to raise up our families. Legend.