Family Responsibility
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Exodus 4:18-31, 5 and Psalm 55 (NIV)
(David Mok, Chairperson, Church Analytics)
READ:
Exodus 4:18-31 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
Moses had just been given a mission. At Horeb, the mountain of God, God spoke to Moses and told him to go and speak to the Pharaoh of Egypt and bring His people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. As Moses and his family traveled from Midian to Egypt, God met him and sought to put him to death . However, Moses’ wife, Zipporah, quickly took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. Thereafter, God left Moses alone.
Zipporah was quick to know what was going on and knew what was needed to appease Yaweh. She knew that not circumcising their son in the Israelite tradition was a serious issue of disobedience, breaking God’s command. (God had commanded Abraham that he and all his descendants were to be circumcised on the eighth day.)
APPLY:
Following God and obeying his teachings is commonly understood as a personal journey and responsibility. While it is largely true, this passage tells me that we are also responsible for our families. Parents have a loving duty to persuade and inculcate God’s way of life with our families. As disciples of Christ, we know His ways, just as Zipporah knew their son needed to be circumcised. If we do not obey our Lord, he will be displeased with us as He was with Moses. As such, while it is true that it is ultimately the decision of each individual whether to follow our Lord, I must still discharge my duty as a parent. I must point my family towards God to the utmost extent I can.
DO:
I need to effectively model for my family what a disciple of Christ looks like.. I know those at home can see me for who I am. If I behave differently at home than at church, my family will see through the hypocrisy. My language at home needs to be edifying and not the coarse language of this world. Consequently, my family will see that it is possible to be in this world but not of it.
I will discuss our Christian faith at the dinner table,showing my family that talking about God is part and parcel of our life. It is not limited to Sunday mornings and individual quiet time. Likewise, I must pray with my family to help them feel comfortable taking our every supplication to the Lord.
In order to do all these things, I personally need to pursue God and let my heart be moulded by our Potter. It is easier to be a disciple of Christ from the heart than from the mind.
PRAY:
Dear Heavenly Father, let me not forget that the secret of the Lord is with those who fear You.In fearing You, You will show me Your covenant promises. In your covenant promises, I am filled, and I am satisfied. That is all I need. Let me also not forget your commandments: to love and pursue you and to love those around me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
