Lead Me

    Have you ever heard a song on the radio and said to yourself, “Hey, that song could be about me.” Sometimes the song brings back fond memories of a youthful relationship. Sometimes we are returned to our “Glory Days” like Bruce Springsteen. Sometimes it takes up back to our childhood in small town America like “Pink Houses” by John Mellencamp. Then sometimes it is a painful memory like “Independence Day” by Martina McBride or an inspirational song that makes us feel good.
    A few weeks ago my wife asked me to listen to a new song by the group ‘Sanctus Real’. It was the most personal, painful and gut wrenchingly soul convicting song I have ever heard.
    One of my biggest failings as a Husband and a Father is my failure to lead. 1 Timothy 3:5 asks an important question: “(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)”
    Men, what can we say to this?
    I am undone. There is no acceptable answer that I can give. When my wife asks me to teach her or to explain a section of scripture to her I am more than willing to, but unless she asks, I rarely do. I spend 15 minutes a night at the dinner table leading prayer and discussion, but watch TV for an hour. What is wrong with me that I would neglect one of the most important obligations I have. The head cannot survive if it neglects the body. The same goes for my children. Deuteronomy 6:4-8” Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
    I alluded to the song ‘Lead Me’. There is hope. We can change, the last verse of the song is a prayer for guidance and strength for husbands. I pray that I can change and be the leader at home that I need to be. We often neglect the ones that are closest to us. How can I teach Sunday School, teach Bible Study, lead a prayer group and yet fail to lead in my own family? The Bible teaches that my responsibility is to God first, then my wife, then my family, then the church, then others and last of all self. Why do I place anything but God ahead of my wife and family? I rush out the door in the morning to get to work. I spend hours a month cleaning my boots and ironing my uniform. Then I neglect looking at the picture my 7 year old drew for me or in instructing them on righteousness and teh word of God. What are we doing?
    Men need to step up and be MEN. We need to stop pretending that we are men while we act like boys. Women need to allow us to be men and accept the God given freedoms granted them. We all need to look to the Bible as our guide for living. Not society, not culture, not tradition and not religion. We have the blueprint for living, we have the Holy Spirit. What more do we need?