"Grounds" Keeping

Who makes the coffee at your house? I usually make it here, mainly because I'm the one who drinks it the most. (Does that surprise you?!) I guess I could have the title "keeper of the grounds". This is a very important job if you are a coffee drinker, and should not be taken lightly. Just kidding!

There is an important "keeping" job that I do have. That is being a "keeper at home." Titus 2:4-5 gives a list of things that young women are to learn from older women. Among this extensive list is the commandment to be a "keeper at home". God says this is so important that if we do not learn and practice it, the Word of God will be blasphemed (Tit. 2:5).

Some women feel that they cannot be content or fulfilled if they are keepers at home. The Word of God teaches just the opposite. Proverbs 14:1 says, "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." We need to take our responsibility seriously, and do the best job that we can for the Lord.

1. Follow the Commandment

We need to realize that being a keeper at home is not just a good idea, it is commanded (and commended) by the Lord (Tit. 2:5; I Tim. 5:11-14; Pro. 14:1; Ps. 113:9).

2. Be Firm in Your Commitment

We must be committed to fulfilling our role as keepers at home. Just because we know the Bible says something does not mean we intend to obey it. Or, sometimes, even though we are obeying, we are not doing it with our whole heart. God's Word says, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might..." (Ecc. 9:10). We need to make a commitment to giving our best to the Lord in our homes.

3. Find Your Contentment

When we have chosen to follow God's commandment, and are firm in our commitment, it is then we will find contentment in the place God has given us to serve. Do not view being a keeper at home as a lowly task (although we should be willing to do anything for the Lord), but rather as an honored position. God sees it this way, and so should we. Read His glowing praise for the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31, and the many other godly women of the Bible.

God has entrusted us with a job, and we will one day give an account for how we have done it. He has asked us to be stewards, keepers, of our homes. The greatest requirement is that we be found faithful (I Cor. 4:2). In relation to the fulfillment of our duties as keepers of our homes, will the Lord be able to look at us one day and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."? I hope so!