FAMILY CHURCH IN OUR HOMES .

Supper was at five pm. very day. As we as a family sat down in the dining room, the food was place on the table by my Mom.
Then my beloved father would say “Grace”. As a family we would thank The Father for what we were about to receive to eat.
Not now and again, but every time we had a meal. My Dad sat at the head of the table, my Mom on his right side and my bother and i on his left. As i have got older the memories of my family have increased. I had three brothers and my eldest brother was easily old enough to be my father. As i write now i am alone. All my family members who sat at that table have gone to be with God. But it was at this table that i heard about The God Most High. Not at Church or Sunday School or any other place. Here the word “respect” came to the fore. Here love was found.
After the meal had been eaten all the plates and utensils were removed and taken to the kitchen and were washed then put away.
Then the instruction came from my father to me. “Go and fetch the Bible.”
Then i would go into my parents bedroom and pick up the Bible on Dad’s side of the bed and take it to him. He would start to read the Scriptures from where he had stopped the previous night.
After that he would ask if we had any questions. Then Dad’s prayer followed. I then returned the Word to the bedroom.This continued until i left home. Each and every time i went to visit my parents this daily devotion was carried out without fail.
My father and i clashed in my teen years, it was not a pleasant time.
Then i returned home, for the first time after leaving, one dark morning at about 4am from what is today called Namibia. When i knocked on the door, my Dad turn on the front door light, opened it and placed the shotgun, which he was carrying, up against the wall near the door and said nothing at all. Then he hugged me in such a wonderful, kind and loving way.
That put an end to my disrespectful attitude towards him.
As i write now many years later the tears of joy and thanks still flow so freely.
My Dad reflected everything he had taught me every evening when i lived at home. He reflected the love and forgiveness of Jesus in such a humble and simple way. I could say so much about him now, but the key point that for me is what he did every evening when he read the Word and prayed, after he had brought the family together at the dining room table.
From that day on Dad and i drew closer and now one of the many things he taught me have come to the fore. “The older you get the more you will see who Jesus is and the Word means more each and every day”.
But today this “Old practice of Home Church ” has gone. What a pity! How sad. Again a great deal more could be said regarding this practice and the Church today.Today for me, it has brought thanks and praise to The God Most High. Respect and love for my parents.For years my Dad was my hero but as i am now near to my end on this earth, a God given thought came to mind. What about my Mom?
What did she do to help me to accept Jesus as my King and Saviour? Then slowly the answer came. She fed me, she loved me, and did everything a mother should do. But now that special thing.
Every evening after the Scripture reading and prayer lead by my Dad, when i went to bed my Mom taught me to pray a prayer written by Charles Wesley.”Gentle Jesus meek and mild look upon a little child and suffer me come to thee”.
This was the start of my prayer life and my relationship with God. My mother knelt down with me when i prayed.
Slowly my prayer life grew and i later declared my undeserved acceptance of Christ as my Saviour And King.
Back to the Truth of Our King.
The ten commandments:
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”(ESV)
In my case this is true and may it also be true for you. Finally a lovely message from The King of Kings. My mothers two fore names i sat and translated into Hebrew recenly and what a blessing!The Hebrew meaning of her translated forenames are the same as my grand daughter’s two forenames in English, totally unknown by my son. The names are Lily-Grace! We read in the Word that the love of God moves from generation to generation. How peaceful my end will be. God bless you.