Thursday, February 19

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FILL 'ER UP?

Everyone has basic needs, and God designed the home to be the primary place where those needs are met. Some have said the home is like a restaurant where people are "fed" with love. Others liken the home to a hotel-mostly a place for spending the night, but not where real living takes place, and sadly, that is sometimes true. But the best analogy I've heard compares the home to a full-service filling station. That's something I know a little about.

When I was growing up my dad had a country store, and next to it was a small building with gas tanks out front. The gas station was never operational until the summer dad said, "Edwin, I want you to go out and run the filling station." So that summer, I became a small businessman. I was fired up. Every morning for three months, I got up, put on my jeans, t-shirt and sneakers, and went to work. My dad taught me when a customer pulled up to say "Fill 'er up?", then to check under the hood, wash all the windows, check the tires and the oil. In that way, I sought to take care of all the customers who came to my full-service filling station.

I think the home should be just like that, because the world is a tough place. Whether you work outside the home, or you're a homemaker, it's tough out there. Toward the end of each day, the family begins to converge on the home. And everyone's tank is empty. Who is going to put on the attendant's uniform, rush out and say "Fill 'er up?" Mom? Dad? The answer is, everybody! You see, each one is to be customer AND attendant in his home. By imitating Jesus Christ, we learn to love one another in deed and fill each other up.

Memory Verse

1 John 3:18
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Read Through The Bible

Deuteronomy 11-12; Matthew 6