Job’s Regular Custom                         

Habit, another word for "regular custom." So what was this habit that Job had? He worried about his kids.

The difference between how Job worried and how many Christians today worry about their kids is this: Job took on himself the responsibility of making certain his kids were "purified." Now there is little difference, most of the time, in the concepts of purified, and consecrated as used in the Old Testament.

Another concept, closely akin, is sanctified. As a youngster growing up attending a fundamentalist church at least three times each week, I was certain that those terms (purified, consecrated, and sanctified) were all part of being "righteous." I was also convinced that being righteous was totally my responsibility. Sort of along the lines of Santa "knows if you've been bad or good..." If I'm good, I would fall in the category of "righteous."

Now I've discovered a much weightier concept. My responsibility is to present myself to God; a gift, a sacrifice of self - a "living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God..." This is the initial step in stepping out of conformity with the world and becoming transformed into an individual patterning after the example of Christ, pleasing to God.

The concern each of us have, as parents, is whether our children are developing the personal relationship with God that we have come to hold so precious down through the years. There are the normal things Christian parents do in raising their children - taking them to church and church activities - but that doesn't seem to be adequate. 

The failure rate of churches in retaining second generation members is frightening. What are we doing wrong? That may be the wrong way to find a positive, workable solution. The list of things we do wrong is easy to write and yet very difficult to right. When it comes to blame assessment, there is plenty of blame and it's easy to see where we have come up short. I also suspect that most children can accept the shortcomings of their parents if there is a strong basis of love and respect.

Job actively served as the priest of his family, even when the children were grown and had their own households. He pastored his family. When we read the requirements for elders and teachers that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus, we notice that these were to be found in these individuals before they were chosen as elders. They were to be proven effective in pastoring their own family units before being allowed the responsibility of shepherding the larger 'family' of God.

A mature Christian is to have habits of nurturing, loving, protecting, encouraging and providing truly spiritual direction. The Bible says, "if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive." (2Peter 1.8)

What habits do you need to develop? What good thing can be said to be your "regular custom?"