The Heart of the Home

One book that has been a blessing to me is the book Homemaking by J. R. Miller, and in it there is a particular section that stood out to me in regards to home life:

". . . only the spirit of Christ in a household makes a truly Christian home . . . There are some fields of grass from which in summer days rises a sweet fragrance, although not a flower is anywhere to be seen. But when you part the tall grass and look down among its roots, there, close on the ground, hidden under the showy, waving grass, you see multitudes of small flowers, modest and lowly, yet pouring forth a delicate and delicious aroma filling all the air. There are homes in which there is nothing remarkable in the way of grandeur or elegance, yet the very atmosphere as you enter is filled with sweetness, like 'the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed.' It is the aroma of love, the love of Christ shed abroad in human hearts." (Homemaking J. R. Miller pg. 231-232)

This beautiful word picture brought the thought to mind that a house, a home, can be kept sparkly clean, have a fresh baked pie cooling on the counter, fragrant flowers adorning corners of the rooms, beautiful canned goods lining the pantry shelves, colorful afghans, quilts and other homemade items decorating the home, and it can look like a picture perfect house out of a magazine. . . but if Christ, His Word and a heart after Him is absent, what is all this worth? 

In the scope of what truly matters eternally, it really is worth nothing. It may be beautiful to the human eye, but without the foundation and the fragrance of Christ which lasts and endures, all of this is naught but like the grass that fades and the flower that falls off (1 Peter 1:24.)

This is a good reminder that in the midst of being busy around our homes and striving to help make them a haven for our families, to not forget about what the foundation of the home needs to be . . . that is, centered around the Lord and His Word. May we never forget where the focus of our hearts, our minds and our actions should be placed; as the apostle Paul exhorts: "set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Colossians 3:2.) 

As we seek to set our minds and hearts on the heavenly things, the things of the Lord, may our homes truly become a place of refuge and peace for our dear families; a place of refreshment, strengthening and fellowship in the Lord; and when others come to our home, may they not see so much the physical, but may they truly see and recognize that Christ is the foundation, the fragrance, of the home.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing . . ." (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

-Posted by Sarah