The midland journal., 1945-10-19

thians ls:4-i3. - 9kA-
i GOLDEN TExT-Love suffereth long and
D kind.-I Corinthians 1874.
4 Things do not just happen. II takes
4 praying and planning and real eff
fort to accomplish worth while
1 purpose. We are thinking these
| weeks of the home as a. Christian
| Ieenter of influence. We trust that
many are asking in their hearts,
4 f'What can I do to make my home
| really Christian?" Z fsssssl q 81
\ The answer is clear. "A horne will
4 be Christian when those In it are
4 Christian and put their Christianity
into daily practice. First, you must
4 be sure Of your own salvation and
| that Of the members Of your house.
hold. Then you can proceed to put
the principles of godliness to work.
4 Our lesson presents the believing
4 home as one that is well balanced.
There is both:
I. Work and Worship s(Luke 10:
38-42).
No home can be place of COM
fort and pleasant fellowship without
much work. A disorderly, dirty or
rundown house is a disgrace and
| encouragement to all that is finest
in the relations of those who live In
it. ,3-.v4a..s
| Home need not be mansion. It
does not have tc be richly furnished,
but it does need to be clean and
orderly. Meals must be made.
Cleaning must be done. So far
Martha was right, but she went too
far. She let the labor of the house.
hold hinder her from what she. so
deeply needed - fellowship, not only
with her family but with the Lord.
| Now, notice that Mary had not
shirked her duty to share the work.
Observe the word "also" in verse
80. She had worked, but she also sat
at Jesus feet. She knew when it
was time to call halt to labor and
make the most Of good comradeship.
Blessed wisdom! Would that many
burdened housewives would learn Of
Mary!
Jesus made it clear that life in
the home is to strike proper bal
ance between work and worship. #
you do not know where to make the
division in your home, err on the
side Of worship. Give that more
time than it should have rather
than less. mi
1 Alas, is it not true that in most
homes, even in Christian homes,
worship is almost, if not entirely,
forgotteni Something should be done
about that. Will you do It in your
home? 7 $3.50
III. Love and Longsuffering Il Cor.
13:4-7). I.
| We are apt to think of love as the
warm feeling Of interest and emo
tion which suffuses ones nature In
moments of special pleasantness or
Of intimate fellowship. But life is
not made up Of succession OF
4 pleasant incidents, Of sunny after
moons and moonlit evenings. )
1 Life is real; it is earnest, and
often it is drab and irritating. What
| about such times? Can love meet
them? Yes, for love knows how to
be longsuffering. Aa
i But someone may ask, Does love
really work, or is this just fine
Il sounding but obsolete theory? 1t
works!
| Think of the things in life which
irritate and depress us. Then put
opposite them the qualities of Chris
tian love as given in verses 4 to z,
and you will agree that what this
world needs most of all is love.
Il Remember that talking about love,
or reading about it, or studying 1t In
the Sunday school will not make
it effective. We must put it into prac-
tice. Why not start now? You will
be surprised at the results.
III. Promise and Perfection wv.
8-13). M e-
I Christianity has hope, and that
Is not just vague wishing that
something might come to pass; 1t Is
q sure hope. In Christ all the rich
promise of prophecy, Of faith, Of
hope will come to pass.
| The Christian home is the place to
teach boys and girls to believe with
assurance that He who has begun q
| good work in US 'will perform Il
until the day Of Jesus Christi (Phil.
1867. ie
We who see only dimly shall one
day see our Lord face to face, and
love shall abide through all eternity.
| Many gifts are only temporary In
their usefulness; in fact, almost ew
erything that man makes or does
(apart from his service for God) is
transient.
Even as vital q matter a.
prophecy shall one day find its end
in fulhllment. Hope shall eventually
find its longing expectation salts
fed. Faith will be justified in seeing
what it has believed. Childish things
viii be put away by the full
grown man; knowledge will increase
and darkness disappear.
But love - love Is eternal. II
never fails, and win never fail. God
| 1s lo,yn ord Gnd {c o&nrx,al Errvva