February 22, 2013

  • Wait til Your Father gets Home"

    Zephaniah 2 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; 2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. 3 Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.

    It isn’t so much that the day was busy, but it was busier than usual, and resulted in several hours of overtime. The overtime could have been avoided, but in this job, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The father looks at his watch, sees it is time to go home, and yet, he isn’t free to go home. As the work day drags on, his mood starts a downward spiral. It is made a lot more stressful because of the calls from his wife concerning the kids. All he wants to do is go home.

    The wife has had her own bad day. One thing and the other happened. And while she has been busy putting things right, she hasn’t had any cooperation from the children. They refuse to clean their rooms. They have toys all over the living room. One daughter helps out, but her attitude is defiant. No matter how patient mom has tried to be with them, the kids have pushed her to her limit. She has warned the kids what will happen if they do not obey her. “Wait until your father gets home.”

    Finally, things get fixed at work. The father clocks out with a little more energy than he had hours earlier. He’s looking forward to getting home. He wants to be with his wife and kids. He wants to sit down with them at the dinner table and talk with them about their day. He looks forward to helping them with their school work. Ultimately, he wants to sit back and relax and enjoy their company.

    But then it happens. The unthinkable occurs without any warning whatsoever, and the father has to delay his plans to go home. He has to take an emergency trip out of town, and he might be gone a couple of days.

    Over the phone he talks with his wife about the kids. Sometimes they obey her. Sometimes he talks to the kids, but the kids are restless and are in a hurry to run and play. When not on the phone, the lonely wife has to do what she can to keep the house clean, and the kids are of little to no help to her. “Wait till your father gets home.”

    The day finally comes and the father can return home. He gets to see the family he loves so much. He looks forward to seeing his wife, whom he is concerned about, for she has been with the kids by herself for too long. He knows that their behavior hasn’t been very good. One boy has been picking on his sister, making her cry. Another son has been teasing his brothers and taking their toys and not sharing his own toys. A beautiful daughter has been trying to help mom out by washing dishes and doing laundry, but she is trying to get something out of it. The younger kids cry out for deliverance from their older siblings. And yet, the father longs to see his kids.

    Mom is tired and looks forward to her husband returning home to help restore sanity to the household. She and a couple of children are dutifully helping clean up, but one is too busy drawing pictures. One won’t turn off the video game player. One won’t help with the dishes. At least the laundry is done. But…

    “MOOOOOMMMMM!”

    “Mommy!”

    She takes a deep breath and sighs, “Wait till your father gets home.”

    She raises her voice one last time in warning to her children. She warns them of the consequences of not helping her clean the house before daddy comes home. The younger kids take up a job enthusiastically and begin to put away their toys. A couple of kids begrudgingly take up the clean-up work. Some are ready for their dad to come walking in the front door. They know he is coming. They don’t know when he will arrive. The rest don’t seem to care either way.

    Outside a car approaches the house. The wife looks out the window in anticipation. She watches her next door neighbor pull up and carry groceries into their house.

    Slowly the clock ticks off another second.

    There is eagerness and excitement as they wait for daddy to arrive.

    “Mommy, when is daddy coming home?”
    “I don’t know. It shouldn’t be too long now.”

    Slowly the clock ticks off another minute.

    Even the father is counting down the hours and minutes and seconds before he gets home. He wants to call and check on everyone, but that is time he could be on the road, getting closer to them with each passing mile. Stopping for gas takes time. Even though he is hungry, he avoids the temptation to stop for a snack in the convenience store and at the numerous restaurants on both sides of the road. He wants dinner with his family, and he wants nothing to interfere with that most anticipated meal.

    So busy cleaning up the house has his wife been that she wasn’t able to prepare dinner. While the kids are getting hungry, there just hasn’t been time to fix anything. When he arrives home, her husband won’t have anything to eat.

    And then she sees his car approaching the house. The final call goes forth, “He’s home! Daddy is home.”

    Two little girls run to the door, screaming excitedly, “Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!”

    An older son with a load of trash in his hand goes out the door and smiles at his father as he gets out of the car.

    As he enters the house his wife embraces him and welcomes him home. The little girls give him a hug. “We missed you, daddy!”

    The father smiles at his wife and kids, but the smile fades as he looks around the house at the kids who are still goofing off with their games. In the kitchen he and his wife discuss the activities of the past few days. The father decides to reward the wife and kids who kept the house clean in his absence. He takes them out for a very nice dinner. However, most of the kids who did nothing went to bed hungry that night.

    Luke 18:8 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

    Like the husband in the story I shared with you, Jesus will return to this planet to reward everyone according to their works. Some will be rewarded for works of faith. Others will be rewarded for their laziness and unbelief. We are encouraged by the prophet Zephaniah to prepare for that coming day of Christ’s revelation to the world.

    Zephaniah 2 Band together, men of a nation so little loved, bind yourselves in one; 2 ere resolve can bear fruit, like flying chaff passes the day.[a] Before the divine vengeance falls on you, before the day of divine retribution comes, to the Lord betake you (to the Lord cause yourself to go)! 3 To honest doing and patient suffering betake you (commit yourself), men of humble heart wherever you be, men obedient to his will; it may be, when the hour of the Lord’s vengeance comes, you shall find refuge. (Geneva 1599)

    We are being called to unity. As believers in Christ Jesus, fools among the nations, we are an unwanted people who share a common ancestry and heritage. Each of us is told to get a good hold on himself, to put himself together. The outcast peoples are to unite themselves in the time leading up to a decree that signals a day of change that is over all too soon. We need to commit ourselves to the Lord Jesus, to work patience among unbelievers, and to continue on in meekness and humbleness. By doing so, we prepare for a day when we will be able to stand in Christ’s presence, delivered from a sentence of death reserved for those who reject Him. Let us be faithful in our service to the end.