Acknowledgment

There is a time and place for everything under the sun. Jesus told us that if we denied Him before men that He would deny us before the Father. (Matthew 10:33) Often we think of this verse as the torture verse, or the martyr verse, that right before you are executed, if you deny Jesus you are going to Hell; but there is another application here as well.

The home life is where we let down our guard, it is where we become who we really truly are. We say our truest thoughts, use the adjectives we want to use to describe things, and do the activities that we choose to do. So if a “Christian” goes home and lives a secular life in front of his kids has he not denied Christ before men?

We must take utmost seriously our home life. I see many a family who appeared Christian from all social interactions but their children grew up away from the faith. So many times parents seem dismayed that their children would walk away from the faith, responding even with, they were trained up in the Lord, but were they? I don't doubt that Bible stories were read, that Sunday School was attended, that the family may have even had devotions, but what sort of examples did we lead?

I remember seeing one man smoke in front of his children and tell them at the very same time to not grow up and “smoke.” Obviously the children followed his character not his teaching. Often we forget that teaching's greatest impact comes from the character of the model. The information is ingested and digested in accord with how delectable the teacher was. The apostles were not following Christ just because He was the best teacher of the time, nor just for the miracles, they followed Jesus because of who He was. He was love, and He told them, you love me because I first loved you.

If we are not living that which we broadcast someone is going to see through the smoke screen. Jesus said I am the way, and the truth, let us then not just be spokesmen but also examples. Let us not deny Jesus in Words nor in deeds. Those close to us, those who are most intimately associated with us, they know us, and they know if we “deny” Christ or if we don't.

Vernon Martin