Home Can Be Beautiful - Discuss the Commandments in Love

There is a third word of counsel that has great significance in the making of a beautiful home: discuss the commandments in love.

Said Moses: “You shall…talk of them when you sit in your house…and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7, R.S.V.). This does not mean that the Ten Commandments are to be the only topic of conversation in the home. That would be unreasonable. To talk solely about God’s law, no matter how good and wonderful it is, would lead to fanaticism, boredom, dissatisfaction, and finally, rejection. And God would not want that.

What He had in mind was freedom of discussion. Religion is not to a closed subject in the home, as it so often is today. Talking about God and His manifold provisions for man’s welfare and salvation is to be as natural as talking about the weather or the latest political or social events. Equally free and easy is to be discussion of all Bible topics. It is to be a normal part of life, like breathing out and breathing in.

This means, of course, talking about Christ, for is He not the Author of the Ten Commandments? Did He not die on Calvary because His law had been broken and there was no other way to pay the penalty for sin and make everlasting life again available to man? What a theme for endless discussion!

This way, thinking and talking about heavenly things will become second nature to parents and children alike. The thoughts of the whole family will be elevated, as will the conversation at mealtimes. New meaning will be seen in those precious words, which used to hang on the living room wall in many a home:

“Christ Is the Head of This House,
The Unseen Guest at Every Meal,
The Silent Listener to Every Conversation.”

Thus, God will be remembered last thing each night—“when you lie down”—and first thing in the morning—“when you rise.” What home would not be a thousand fold more beautiful with such a program?

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