He Is Coming
Our God is a God of order. He has demonstrated this principle in creation, in the sanctuary, and in our body temple. If we are preparing to live in an orderly Heaven, where do we practice? In our homes. Does it really matter how our homes are inside and outside?
How many of you feel like you are ready to step into heavenly places and just feel at home? What about your earthly home? Do you like it? Are you satisfied with its atmosphere, its order and organization? Is it a place where love dwells and angels delight to visit? Do you still want to improve in your habits of self-discipline or in teaching your children? Are you seeking to glorify the Lord in all things, and do you want to be more efficient? Then this may be the help you are praying for.
Being born into a family with an organized mother is definitely a plus. Before I recognized organization as a quality, I remember wanting things to look nice. Even as a teen, while visiting the mechanic shop with friends, I would organize tools, work benches, and floors, not understanding what drove me to want to see everything as neat as I could put it in a limited amount of time. Except during the teen years, when confusion seems to be the best word to describe that period of time, I have liked order.
Many times, my friends would give me a hard time for wanting things neat. I would be told to loosen up, not worry about it, and so forth. I began to think maybe this was just me, some quirk of my personality. But then, after making my decision to follow Christ, it became more important.
I still struggled, especially when I met other “Christians” who thought that order was too restrictive. Yet I saw many other Christians where order permeated their lives, their homes, and I thought they set a good example. Then I found my challenge text:
“One well-ordered, well-disciplined family is a greater power in demonstrating the efficiency of Christianity than all the sermons in the world.”1
I was studying this particular subject and was greatly surprised to find out what heaven’s first law is. “Order is heaven’s first law.”2 Heaven’s first law of order is coupled with heaven’s first law of love.
God is love. Plain and simple! And, God is a God of order. Straightforward! This has posed some questions in my mind: Can love exist without order? Can order exist without love?
It has been observed that disorder is usually the result of feelings from lack of love, rejection, and so forth, from the past. It has also been observed that, without order, there can be a lot of irritation that is not good for love. Order is the best atmosphere for love to be cultivated and nurtured.
Creation teaches order, but there is something very interesting that our daughter told us specifically about beehives. A beekeeper can actually tell the condition of the queen (the leader of the hive) by the pattern of the brood (eggs). If the queen is alive and well, the pattern will be very neat and orderly. If she is getting old and weak, this pattern is disconnected, erratic, disorderly. If she is dead, there is no brood pattern (no eggs laid).
I see a parallel to the homes in our generation. It was very unusual to find messy, disorganized homes a couple of generations ago, at least in my sphere. Women understood their role in housekeeping and child training and did their best to keep things well-ordered and clean.
Now, I see a change, and, unfortunately, it is not for the better. Fewer mothers are home, caring for it and for their children. Schedules are busier than ever, and yet we have more time-saving devices and conveniences. Fewer and fewer homes manifest order and cleanliness. What is wrong? Every homemaker thinks she is fine, and that order is a relative word. Is it possible that God has some definite specifics that will help us have a standard by which to judge? I find that He does, and we wish to examine some of those here.
“Order is heaven’s first law, and the Lord desires His people to give in their homes a representation of the order and harmony that pervade the heavenly courts. Truth never places her delicate feet in a path of uncleanness or impurity.” 3
“God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.... Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40).
If we desire to be in harmony with God’s will and ways - and to prepare for a beautiful place beyond earth, known as Heaven, we need to prepare now. We need to implement laws of order in our own lives and in the lives of our children. Orderly habits now will bring us several blessings. We will be happier here.
“Happiness is not found in empty show. The more simple the order of a well-regulated household, the happier will that home be.”4
By being orderly, we will be better prepared for Heaven. In fact, without cultivating a love for and a habitual working towards Heaven, we will not enter there.
“In heaven there is perfect order, perfect obedience, perfect peace and harmony. Those who have had no respect for order or discipline in this life would have no respect for the order which is observed in heaven. They can never be admitted into heaven, for all worthy of an entrance there will love order and respect discipline. The characters formed in this life will determine the future destiny. When Christ shall come, He will not change the character of any individual. Precious, probationary time is given to be improved in washing our robes of character and making them white in the blood of the Lamb. To remove the stains of sin requires the work of a lifetime. Every day renewed efforts in restraining and denying self are needed. Every day there are new battles to fight and victories to be gained. Every day the soul should be called out in earnest pleading with God for the mighty victories of the cross.”5
And we will be better witnesses to others:
“It is the privilege of all to give to the world in their home life, in their customs and practices and order, an evidence of what the gospel can do for those who obey it. Christ cameto our world to give us an example of what we may become. He expects His followers to be models of correctness in all the relations of life. He desires the divine touch to be seen upon outward things.
“Our own homes and surroundings should be object lessons, teaching ways of improvement, so that industry, cleanliness, taste, and refinement may take the place of idleness, uncleanness, coarseness, and disorder. By our lives and example we can help others to discern that which is repulsive in their character or their surroundings, and with Christian courtesy we may encourage improvement. As we manifest an interest in them, we shall find opportunity to teach them how to put their energies to the best use.”6
No better time is there to teach these things than when the children are young. Yet even if they are older and we have not learned all that we would like to in these lines, there is still hope. We can still be students in the school of Christ.
Order in our life is simply the result of routine and discipline. We will thrive when we have an established schedule and routine in our day-to-day life. This still will allow for flexibility when needed but all will be happier knowing what is to take place. Studies have shown that when children are given routine tasks and scheduled events along with lovingly placed boundaries, they are much happier and more obedient, as well as being less fearful. They are also better students.
People who have no schedule, no boundaries, and no responsibilities actually become more lethargic, fretful, discontented, and fearful. Which would you like for your children? And/or for yourself?
It seems clear to me that God wants things in order in our homes and in our lives in general. Let us study to find out more specifically what He has in mind.
a. Teach the difference between having specific things to play with and not touching those which are not to be played with.
“Education must be all-round and uniform. Every mother needs to be diligent. She must allow nothing to divert her mind. She must not allow her children to follow their uneducated will in handling things in the home. They should be taught that they are not to keep the house in perpetual disorder by handling things for their own amusement. Mothers, teach your children from their earliest years that they are not to look upon everything in the home as playthings for them. By these little things order is taught. No matter what fuss the children may make, let not the organ of destruction, which is large in babyhood and childhood, be strengthened and cultivated. ‘Thou shalt,’ and ‘Thou shalt not,’ God says. Without loss of temper, but decidedly, parents are to say to their children, No, and mean it.”7
b. Order means to keep things tidy. That means clean (without dirt), nice-smelling (without body odor or other unclean scents), and looking nice (that means with taste). We are to have no disorder in the home, meaning everything should be in a specific place.
“As the guardian and teacher of your children, you are in duty bound to do every little thing in the home with nicety and in order. Teach your children the invaluable lesson of keeping their clothing tidy. Keep your own clothing clean and sweet and respectable. . . .
“You are under obligation to God always to be patterns of propriety in your home. . . . Remember that in heaven there is no disorder, and that your home should be a heaven here below. Remember that in doing faithfully from day to day the little things to be done in the home, you are a laborer together with God, perfecting a Christian character.”8
c. Our homes should show how to be industrious and the results of it. We can also see the qualification of refinement (not rough, unclean, or distasteful).
d. Order means having clothing folded and put away, dishes cleaned and put in orderly places; it means having our bodies washed and neat daily; it means furniture is placed tastefully. It means that there is not “stuff” all around making things look untidy, messy, and unrefined.
How can all of this be accomplished? Practical steps will be provided in the next issue of The Reformation Herald. Remember, our Lord is available to be our Help & Guide!