House Rules
theophilus December 19th, 2008
Last month, I ran across a thing in a catalog promoting something with a series of Bible references on it. They were “House Rules” – a series of 12 maxims from the Bible on how a house and family should be run. I didn’t want to buy it but I liked the “Rules;” so I typed them up, printed them out, and put them on our fridge.
And didn’t give them a second thought.
I found out tonight that my kids have read them. Tonight, my little girl “promised” her little brother that he could stay up past their bedtime to watch a movie. When my wife heard this, she marched upstairs to inform both of them that it was time for bed. It was at this point that my little girl quoted one of the rules from Romans 4 and asserted that we should “keep our promises,” (Maxim #7). She had promised her brother that he could watch the movie and therefore she had to keep her promise.
My wife then found me and told me it was all mine.
I quickly grabbed my Bible for some context. Sure enough, the pertinent verse of Romans 4 reads “[n]o distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”
I felt like I was on a cross-examination. I explained to her that she did not have the authority to give this promise and therefore we were not bound to the promise. I counseled her that she should only make promises that she could keep; that she should ensure that she “was able to do what [s]he had promised.”
They appeared to understand. The TV is off; my son is in his bed; my daughter is warming to the idea of sleep.
So, what have I learned tonight? #1, my kids are paying attention to me; #2, I better have my Bible at hand when I throw scripture at them because, odds are, they are going to challenge me; #3, Mary and Joseph are laughing their butts off, because if Jesus was even close to being a normal child, he challenged them like every other child; both surprisingly and exasperatingly.
But for now, I take comfort that my little girl was challenging me with the Word of God and not something she read in People or something she heard on TV. I look forward to more of these conversations; as long as I’m adequately prepared.
I too have seen the house rules according to the bible, but did not want to buy. Now I am trying to find them on the internet and am not having any luck. Would you type them out for me?