Home For Sale

 

T

he housing market is booming!  With our economy steadily improving and interest rates still low, the time for purchasing a house is better now than it has been in the last several years.  Everywhere I go in Fort Worth and in the surrounding area, I am astonished at the number of signs in yards, on billboards, or affixed to telephone poles advertising houses for sale.  The classified ads in the paper are filled with real estate offers and the radio and television signals beam out information about houses on an hourly basis. 

 

While I have grown accustomed to seeing these signs all over the place, occasionally one of them will really grab my attention.  This was the case one day as I made my way home from work. I had just exited the Interstate when I came across one of those little signs indicating that something down a side street was on the market.  The sign was homemade and wouldn’t have been noticeable to me were it not for the message written on it.  The sign simply read:  Home For Sale! 

 

I almost came to a screeching halt right there in the middle of the road.  It’s a good thing I didn’t though, or I would have introduced my rear bumper to the front bumper of the car behind me, a prospect I really wouldn’t want to consider.  In any event, I continued my drive toward the seminary with the words of that sign turning over and over in my head.  Just how much is a home worth, I wondered?  I know I can buy a house.  I can get the cost per square foot, I can look at the condition of the paint, I can see what repairs need to be made, etc.  But how does one buy a home?  That was the question. 

 

I remember distinctly when my mom and dad sold the house where I grew up.  My dad asked me if I were sad that they had sold “home.”  I was saddened that my childhood house was no longer in the family, but our home was right where it always had been, with mom and dad.  Mom and dad did not, indeed could not, sell our home because our home is not a physical, tangible thing.  It is not tied to a structure or a location and no amount of money can even come close to buying it.  It is priceless and not for sale on any market. 

 

Unfortunately, in today’s society, we have fallen into the trap of confusing a house and a home.  As the sign indicated, our society will eagerly sell anything if the price is right.  Our homes are for sale and the world is buying.  If you don’t believe me, just look inside the modern house and try to find a home.  This is a daunting task.  We spend more time watching television than we do talking.  We have far more things to do around the house and so little time to spend with each other.  We prefer to keep our houses in vogue with the latest trends, yet we do little or nothing to keep the relationships among family members current.  What a sad commentary this is.  The sign just might be right, our homes indeed seem to be on the market for anyone or anything willing to purchase them and the line of perspective buyers grows longer by the minute. 

 

God’s perspective on the home is so different from what we see in today’s world.  In Deuteronomy 6:7, we find this directive from God concerning the home (not the house), “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”  This passage of scripture comes from a longer passage known as the Shema.  The most familiar statement of this section is found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”  In Hebrew, shema is a verb which means to hear.  It is the first word in this passage and therefore the passage is referred to as the Shema. 

 

In this passage, God directs fathers to instruct their children in His laws and commands.  The schoolroom, as it were, is the home but the lessons are also to be taught during the course of the day’s activities, in the morning to begin the day and in the evening to end it.  In short, children are to be taught continually and parents, especially fathers, are to model God’s teachings for their children.  The house provides shelter; the home provides security.  The house provides a place to live; the home provides a way of life.  The house is made up of rooms; the home is made up of hearts.  The house must be constructed; the home, however, must be molded. 

 

As you ride throughout your area today, stop and look at the signs posted in yards and on billboards.  Look at the classified ads and listen to the radio advertisements.  How many homes are for sale today?  As you pass by house after house that have no signs stop and think if the homes inside those houses are for sale and if so, who’s buying?  Is your home for sale today?  Think about it!