RESUME FOR GATEKEEPERS
Part 4

“Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober”
(1 Thessalonians 5:6).

We will now check the last points on the resume list:

8. We must watch over what comes in and what goes out

Ezekiel 44: 14 tells us of those who were “keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.” 1 Chronicles 9:28 (HCSB) tells us about certain gatekeepers who “were in charge of the utensils used in worship. They would count them when they brought them in and when they took them out.”

As a guardians and gatekeepers of our homes we also watch over all the details of what happens in our home. Our “beady” eyes watch what comes into our home and what goes out! Nothing bypasses mother’s eyes.

9. We watch over all things in the home

1 Chronicles 9:29 (HCSB) tells us about other gatekeepers who “were put in charge of the furnishings and all the utensils of the sanctuary, as well as the fine flour, wine, oil, incense, and spices.” Everything in our home is significant. We are the keepers of our furnishings and therefore teach our children how to respect furniture and possessions. I don’t allow children to jump on beds and sofas. Get them a trampoline for jumping!

I only allow children to eat in the kitchen or at the dining table, never in the bedrooms or the rest of the house. It makes more crumbs, more marks on the carpet, and more work for mother that is unnecessary. Nor do I allow children to chew gum in my home. There is nothing worse than finding gum stuck on the floor or furniture. To save the problem I outlaw it! Each one of us are different so you will set the house rules that are important to you. And as the keeper of the home, you will make sure your children keep to the rules.

We are also the keepers over all our food as this Scripture tells us. Everything is sacred in your home when God lives in it. As a homekeeper and gatekeeper you watch carefully over your food supplies. You make sure you have basic foods in stock without running out. Ordering in bulk is much cheaper in the long run. When you keep running out of basics and have to run to the shop to replenish, you usually pay much more. You only have foods in your pantry that are healthy for your children to eat so you don’t have to continually say No to them when they want this and that.

1 Chronicles 9:31 tells us about Mattithiah who was the firstborn of Shalom (the chief gatekeeper). He was given the responsibility over “the things that were made in the pans.” Isn’t it amazing how all these things were important in the running of God’s house, just as they are in our home? Cooking, baking, and pots and pans--all part of God’s service.

Proverbs 31:27 says: “She looks well to the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness.”

10. We must be altar guarders

Ezekiel 40:46: “And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister unto him.”

The altar was where they attended to the daily sacrifices. God commanded that the fire upon the altar was to burn continually and never go out. To do this they had to attend to it every morning and every evening (Leviticus 8:13). Although we no longer have physical altars, this is a type of our meeting with God every morning and evening, a principle that God revealed in tabernacle and temple times. They had to guard the altar. They had to keep the fire burning continually. In the same way we have to keep the altar continually burning in our home. We can’t be slack. We must faithfully gather our families morning and evening to worship God and listen to Him speak to us.

Are you guarding the altar in your home? Or do you allow other things to crowd it out? Our commitment to the morning and evening meeting with God exposes our true commitment to God as a family. It’s easy to say that we are a Christian family, but our commitment to our family altar each day proves whether God is preeminent in our homes or not.

Read these Scriptures too: Exodus 27:20, 21 and 29:38-42.

11. We must be marriage keepers

Malachi 2:15, 16 (NLT) says: “Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

I think we must read these Scriptures also from the King James version: “And did not He make one? Yet had He the residue of the spirit. And why one? That He might seek a godly seed! Therefore take heed (shamar) to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. “For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away; for one covereth violence with his garment,” saith the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.”

God hates divorce, especially because it affects the children. God looks for godly children from our marriage union and He knows that divorce negatively impacts their lives. Therefore He says, “Take heed to your spirit.” Guard it from becoming hard and bitter toward your spouse. Hardness of heart is always the root of divorce. Be the gatekeeper of your marriage. Do not allow hardness, bitterness, hurt, despise, and negative thoughts to take root in your heart. Throw them out from your mind before they take hold.

12. We must prayer watchers

Jesus said in Matthew 26:41: “Watch and PRAY, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus also said in Mark 13:33: “Take ye heed (beware), watch and PRAY.” It is not enough to watch; we must also pray. Much of our watching in the home happens through prayer. We not only watch physical gates, but the ear gate, the eye gate, and the heart gate. These take a lot of prayer watching with our children.

It is impossible to be a true gatekeeper of your home unless you are a woman of prayer. This should actually be No. 1 on the resume, rather than the last point.

Luke 21:34-36 (ESV) says: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, PRAYING that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, Please help me to be a woman of prayer, watching over my children in prayer, and over everything that goes on in my home. Please expose all the hidden things that would be grieving to Your name. Please help me to establish a holy home. I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am a prayer watcher over my home and family. I will not be taken unawares.