My dear readers,

(Excerpts from Building Firm Foundations, Dr SH Tow)

1. Home sweet Home
What is home to you? To a child home is where father and mother shower him with love and affection. To a man, home is where together with his wife and children he makes a little heaven on earth - a place of happy conversation, a haven for the family, a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. To me, home is where my heart is. Whenever I travel, the longer I am away, the keener is my longing for home. Thank God for sweet homesickness!

John Howard Payne wrote that most loved song "Home Sweet Home." Let us recall the words of the first verse.

Mid pleasures and palaces
though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble,
there’ s no place like home;
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world,
it’s ne’er met elsewhere.
Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home!
There’s no place like Home!
There’s no place like Home!

John Payne’s immortal lines must strike a responsive chord in your heart. Go where you will through this whole wide earth, but invariably you will say "There’s no place like home." Yet the joys of home are ever so fragile and fleeting. In our heart we would that our homes were always sweet and complete, but of course that is pure wishful thinking. Sooner or later, sickness, accident, parting and other untoward happenings shatter the serenity of home.

Then we sigh and long for old times. Home is never the same again. Children grow up and leave the family nest. Like birds, they fly away. Gone are the cheery youthful voices, the carefree laughter, the boisterous playtime. The piano, untouched for many moons, stands muted and forlorn. A strange silence hangs over empty beds, now occupied only by long-discarded dolls.

Home sad home, casualty of time and change! Yet in the midst of gloom comes quiet assurance: Lo I am with you always, even until the end of the world! With Jesus, home is still Sweet Home. Our Comforter and Friend abides with us. He understands our problems and shares our sorrows. He makes home sweet! His presence lifts the gloom and drives sadness away.

Make Jesus the Centre of your home. Meet with Him every night in Family Worship. Let Him make your Home a truly Sweet Home!
God bless our home!

2. Who is head of your house?
A wall plaque commonly seen in Christian homes reads thus:

CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF THIS HOUSE
THE UNSEEN GUEST AT EVERY MEAL
THE SILENT LISTENER
TO EVERY CONVERSATION.

It is a good reminder to the members of the household that they belong to the Lord ‘whose they are and whom they serve.’ It also informs visitors that they are in a Christian home. The display of this and others with Scripture texts is a good practice, as Moses commanded the children of Israel to write God’s Word "upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" (Deut 6:9).

If Christ indeed is Head of your house, then we ought to conduct ourselves as "in His presence." When we practise the presence of Jesus in our homes, it will cause us to guard our whole lifestyle and behaviour, especially the use of our ears, eyes and tongues. A children’s hymn expresses this simply but powerfully.

O be careful little eyes what you see!
O be careful little eyes what you see!
Your Father up above
is looking down in love,
O be careful little eyes what you see!
O be careful little ears what you hear!
O be careful little ears what you hear!
Your Father up above
is looking down in love,
0 be careful little ears what you hear!

The Lord Emmanuel, He dwells in our homes! What a blessed thought. He sits in our midst. Let no violence or uncleanness intrude into our homes by the air waves or cable. We must not offend our Special Guest. Let no harsh, abrasive, unkind, provocative or vulgar speech jar His ears. Let us adorn our Living Room, Dining Room and Bedrooms with Christ-honouring decorations. If any fleshy or lustful pin-ups have invaded your house, in the holy name of Jesus, destroy them! Let the Lord reign supreme in every area of your home. That includes the nooks and corners, the locked drawers and book-cases. May no immoral or occult or anti-Christian literature, pictures or articles be allowed to lurk anywhere within your four walls.

If Christ is Lord at all, He must be Lord of all!

Serve the Lord with clean hands and pure hearts within clean homes and pure rooms.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Sr Pastor