Keepers at Home
“But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: …The aged women… that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers… teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:1-5)
“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain.” (Deuteronomy 32:1-2) How refreshing is the natural rain, especially after a long dry time! One just loves to hear the drops falling on the parched earth! God’s Word—His doctrine is like the rain.
We are surrounded in the world today by the world’s thinking, but God’s doctrine—His words and ways are refreshingly pleasant, right and holy. They are refreshing as the rain! They are soothing. They are invigorating. They give life, vitality, and an abundant and glorious harvest. Why would anyone refuse the righteousness of God’s doctrine and ways for His creation?
Oh, but there is an enemy, running to and fro with the wisdom of men and women, to confuse the truth, cover up the truth, hide the truth and to sneak away the truth of God’s doctrine.
“My speech shall distil as the dew.” (Deuteronomy 32:2) God’s word—His wisdom—shall distill, purify, and refine. Getting in God’s order will rectify domestic problems. Taking God’s way will make your living so much more enjoyable! People most often want to think for themselves—use their own human reasoning—and thus get themselves in a lot of trouble. Oh, yes, they may go on for a number of years and seemingly are progressing fine, until cracks start appearing in the foundations of their lives. Foundations that were not dug out and grounded on the words, the doctrines, or the speech of the God of our universe.
Solomon, the one whom God endowed with much wisdom and understanding, said, “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father.” (Proverbs 4:1) He was giving instruction to the youth here, but we as adults can also apply this to us, as we are God’s children. We are to hear the words of our heavenly father. The scripture goes on to say, “For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law…. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.” (Proverbs 4:2,5-6) Surely it is wisdom to diligently follow the doctrine of God. “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.” (Proverbs 4:8-9)
- Do you want to be robbed of the honour God has for you as a woman?
- Do you want to be robbed of the ornament of grace?
- Do you want to be robbed of the crown of glory God has for you?
The devil is setting out to do just that.
Anything that affects the world tries to come into the church. There are high-school girl graduates who are studying to teach, to go into nursing, or into some other career. If you paid the price to master skills like these, will you be willing to give up the job when marriage knocks at your door, and it is time to devote yourself to the most important job of all? Do you see the trap the devil is setting for your feet? You had better run while you can. Flee from the devil and his traps!
We live in a world where the majority of women work outside the home. After a while, it has become so common to us that it seems it has always been this way. But it has not. For many years, our country benefitted from a high esteem for women staying at home. This esteem has been lost, little by little, and women have become discontent. Then they fought to be accepted in the workplace and have left their God-given place at home. Even just 40 years ago, most of our classmate’s mothers were staying at home. Now, the world, high schools, and colleges are belittling the art of homemaking. Our local high school no longer even offers home economics!
In the 1930’s and 1940’s, a letter was written to Betty Crocker: “I am a young bride wanting so much to do things right in cooking, but so often I make a grand mess of things. Why don’t schools everywhere stress cooking and sewing more?” This letter reflects the shifting emphasis from the esteem on home and homemaking skills to other things.
Betty Crocker (not a real woman, but an advertising surrogate) became a “mother” of sorts to many young women who were losing their heritage. “In an era when the quest for improved education and employment routinely drew young women away from their rural roots and into urban centers, Betty often did what Mother was too far away to do—advise, instruct, console.”
Here is an example of a mother in a trap.
Dear Betty Crocker,
This letter is going to be filled with headaches but if I tell you just how it is, I think (I hope) you will be able to help me. To begin with, I am one of the poorest housekeepers there is. I have two children, and I never have any time for them. I’m short-tempered with them too. In fact, I never have time for anything. I can cook enough to get by, but that is all. It never looks nice, and no one seems to enjoy it. It seems I’m always working, but the house is always a mess. I know I’m dumping a big load in your lap. But I do wish you could help me. Please send me anything you have that will get me straightened out. No one can blame my husband for being disgusted—I don’t. That is why I want and need your help.”
Are jobs, more jobs, and more money more important than bringing up the children (Proverbs 29:15)? No, oh, no! A thousand times, no! God has created and breathed the breath of life into these little souls. Are we going to train them for good or evil? Just to let them grow up the best they can with a sitter, or alone a lot of the time, is rather harsh, isn’t it? It also gives the devil a huge open door to enter in and take over. The devil must be fought. Great carefulness must be given! A great keeping needs to take place.
We must fight to win over the destructive plans the devil has for each of us. We must be watchful. We must lock up our hearts, minds, and ways against the attacks of the enemy. We must guard against becoming like the world.
God laid a burden on Brother Paul’s heart to write to young Brother Timothy, saying, “that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils…. But refuse profane and old wives’ fables.” (1 Timothy 4:1,7) A fable, in this context, is a story that is not true—a falsehood. Surely the devil is spreading many fables around. Women, beware of the falsehoods lurking around to trap your feet “and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.” (1 Timothy 4:7) Refuse the cunning tactics and arts of the enemy that will sear your conscience, ruin your life and the lives of your husband and children. God has so much better for you! He wants to nourish you up “in the words of faith and of good doctrine.” (1 Timothy 4:6)
Many mothers have cried when leaving their child with someone while they went to work. They really didn’t feel right down deep in their hearts. One mother said, “I can’t find the person I’m looking for to care for my child.” She was looking down the nose of the person who should give her child the real love, care, and concern that the child needed! Mothers—wake up!
Most of today’s women are trying to do so much. They are rushing to and fro from home to work. They are searching for faster and easier ways to accomplish nearly everything they do. How refreshing it would be if they would abandon the break-neck speed of their lives, and would simply be content to stay at home and take God’s plan for their lives! How refreshed they would be, as well as the whole family!
The impatient approach to everything causes parents to be impatient with the pace of their children’s lives. The children are hurried from one thing to another. The process is forced continually. This produces a restless, harried, unhappy child, who feels unloved and unappreciated for what he is. The child learns the way of impatience. A “quality time” is substituted for a quantity of time. This is the thinking of those who are drunk on the idea that we can manage everything as we wish. It ignores the sober reality that God has made things to progress at a certain pace for His reasons.
How subtle the enemy is! The things of the world creep in. People reason: the high cost of living and we need…. Parents feel they must have bigger and better things to provide for the children. That is not what the children need. They need the parents, particularly the mother’s presence with them all day long to do things with them. To teach them profitable things. Let the little ones help fold the wash cloths, set the table, and take dirty dishes to the sink. They won’t do it perfectly, but they are learning. Train them to pick up one set of toys before getting another set out. The home is their classroom. Ages six and up love having their own four square feet of earth in which to plant their own garden. The girls can be cleaning maids who knock on your door to offer assistance. The boys need scrap lumber and nails to build dog houses, nesting boxes for rabbits, or nests for chickens. They also need Dad’s presence to read them stories and do projects together. Don’t work those excessive, long hours. Your wife and children need you, too. These activities not only teach beneficial skills; they teach them in a beneficial way. Important lessons of working together, living together, respecting one another, and learning the give and take of proper human relationships are all involved. This is enjoyable, happy learning, full of happy memories and worthwhile recollections. It is vastly different from having your children raised by strangers.
How is it with you? Have you been seduced by the wisdom of this world? Will you answer God’s call? Will you give ear and hear the words from the mouth of God? He said that this is how the women, old and young alike, are to be.
Let’s pray, that, as we study His Word, we will hunger for the doctrine He has for us as women.
What does it mean to be a keeper at home?
Have you ever looked in the dictionary and discovered what the word keep means? There is a column six inches long! Here are some of the main points that apply:
To take care of, to protect; guard; defend. To look after; watch over; tend. To maintain in good order or condition; preserve; to supply with food, shelter, etc.; provide for. To carry on; conduct; manage. To cause to stay or continue, in a specified condition; not to become spoiled. To stay in or at; not leave (a path, course, or place).
This word keep is exceedingly powerful and profound!
God’s will for the married woman is to stay at home and to watch over the home; to keep it clean and in good order as much as possible. It takes a wise, creative, intelligent women to manage at home. It is harder to be a good home executive (mother) than a business executive—much, much harder! (Just to begin with, it’s 24/7. “A man’s work is from dawn to setting sun, but a mother’s work is never done!”) How much we need God to help us be wise, give us thoughts of creativity, and teach us the joys of learning in all the home departments!
One of the definitions of keep means to supply with food. How satisfied a hungry husband is when he senses a savory fragrance floating in the air, as he approaches the open door after a long day at work! (Put yourself in his shoes—wouldn’t you enjoy a good meal, all ready to eat, after working hard all day?) Don’t know what to prepare for supper? Read a cookbook for awhile. That will inspire you. Check out cookbooks from the library for new insights. Cooking is part of your homemaking job. Study to be a competent cook, not a great cook. If perchance, you are one who doesn’t like to cook, ask God to change you enough to make your husband and children happy and healthy. Rebekah knew how to make savory meat that her husband loved (Genesis 27:9; true, she didn’t use her knowledge rightly, but she did know). Study to please your husband. If you don’t know his favorite dishes—you are missing out on the pleasure of pleasing him and seeing his eyes light up!
What husband wouldn’t appreciate his wife shopping for bargains to stretch his paycheck? What carefulness she should exercise in food management and keeping older foods used, thus avoiding spoilage. What woman would want it said of her that she could throw more out the back door with a tablespoon than her husband could bring in with a shovel? Be saving; learn how not to waste food, that you might have extra to give to others.
At the birth of each child, there falls a solemn responsibility to nourish, protect, and care for a brand-new, little one. How much study and thought should be given to them during all the growing up stages! Motherhood is a massive job, and God didn’t intend you to share it with a job outside the home. Remember the definitions of being a keeper: protect, guard, look after, watch over, tend. It is your place to take care of your children; not a baby sitter, a day care provider, or preschool employee. Most of your time and attention should be given to taking care of your husband and the little ones. Keep the house clean and in good order. Keep the clothes washed, folded, and put away. Proverbs 31:27 says, “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
Make homemaking the interesting job that it is. What other jobs are open to so many skills and interesting endeavours? Sewing, interior decorating, flower arranging, and exploring history, to name just a few. Keeping a home is a wonderful, fulfilling, full-time job of making your husband and children happy! You keep them happy, and I can promise, if your heart is set to do God’s will, then you will be happy, too.
Homemaking and child-raising is a fruitful field, and no one ever learns it all. It is not limiting and shallow as many choose to believe.
For those who are in the slough of despond in their housekeeping, here is a cleaning-apron idea that will make cleaning go faster. Apron, with three big pockets. Left hand pocket for all trash that the vacuum cleaner cannot pick up. Middle pocket for dust cloth, and right hand one for pens, crayons, legos, marbles, etc.
Clean when the sun is shining in; it gives you much inspiration, as the sunlight reveals the dust and cobwebs! As you clean, ask the Good Shepherd to reveal any dust and cobwebs of doubt and discontentment the enemy may be trying to sow in your heart.
If you are young and unmarried, ask God for guidance in how you should spend those years of waiting. If you follow Him, He will prepare you to be a help meet (suitable) to the special man for whom you are waiting.
A young boy of ten was asked about his first day of the new school year. His answer was only one word, but it said volumes. “Awesome.” His own birth mother, because of the traps of the enemy, was not even able to parent him. How much she has missed! His teacher was a young woman of 25 (unmarried) who was giving her time to the Lord to be used in His service and was schooling him in an home atmosphere. Teachers and care givers, who really take the needs of the children to heart, are very special to children. Mothers, are you going to forfeit your rights of holding that special place in your child’s life, while you are otherwise employed?
Remember, God’s doctrine and ways for us are as refreshing as the rain. They distill, make right, and purify. They are soothing. They are invigorating. They give life, vitality, and an abundant, glorious harvest. Choose God’s doctrine, words and ways. You will never regret it.