The Olive Trees Around the Table // Building a Godly Family, Part 15

Bringing up children can feel like such a thankless task some days. You invest, invest, sacrifice, invest some more – hoping that one day, it’ll all have a positive impact on them. Well, I want to share something with you about this investment thing that’ll just blow you away.

We've been talking, these last 3 weeks, about Building a Godly Family. And today, today I want to share a story with you that blew me away. And my prayer is, it will blow you away too. It's all about fruit, well olives actually; the fruit of the investment of building a godly family.

Now, you and I both know that whenever we invest in anything, what the word "investment" really means is "sacrifice now in order to reap the harvest later" because investing is about putting something we have in hand now; something we could use or spend in another way. And investing is about taking that thing and planting it somewhere else to reap a reward later.

If we save for our retirement, we take money that we could blow on things that we'd love to enjoy today but we set it aside in some form of investment plan so that the seed grows into a tree that will feed us when we retire, right?

Or if we decide to lose weight and get fit, we sacrifice today's "eat whatever you want" plan, we sacrifice that in order to reap the reward of a healthier body. We give up time that we'd rather spend watching television to exercise to reap the reward. And as it turns out, exactly the same principle applies when we invest the time and the effort and the emotional energy that's required to build a godly family.

Now earlier this week you may have heard me talk about my friend Mark and his family who live in the United States of America. Let me tell you the story about Mark. Mark is a wonderful godly man; a man I respect tremendously. He has this outrageous sense of humour and laugh.

I remember he and I were driving together through the chaotic traffic of India, the first time I'd ever driven in India and I thought I was going to die. I mean Mark was in the front seat, me in the back seat and amidst my sheer terror, in this traffic, all I remember is the outrageous laughter of this man. And yet, he's one of the godliest men I know.

He and his wife have nine children, all home schooled. Not a perfect family by any means but a godly one. Nine kids! I find that hard to comprehend. Nine! And yet there is a calm delight in this man and his family and godliness that really catches your eye. You think how is that possible?

So I've shared with you over the last few days some of the things that he said to me that were the most important in building a godly family. And today, I want to share Mark’s final take on this. And it comes out of Psalm 128, verse 3. Now Psalm 128 in written to the father of a family. It is a message written specifically to him. Have a listen. It's actually a very short psalm. Psalm 128.

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands. You shall be happy and it shall go well with you. You wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of you life. May you see your children's children. Peace upon Israel.

To our 21st Century ears that take on family life, well it may seem a tad patriarchal but remember it was written to people who lived in a patriarchal society. So let’s go with it. The first verse says:

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.

Everyone who fears the Lord – what we've been talking about over these last few weeks. Putting God first in everything, every part of our lives including the way we do family. And that brings blessing. The sort of blessing the psalmist talks about in verse 2:

You'll eat the fruit of your labour. You'll be happy and all will go well for you.

But now listen to verse 3. It sounds a bit patriarchal:

Your wife will be a fruitful vine within your house.

But it comes back to the Old Testament view and concept of blessing. Blessing equalled lots of children in your own land. It's pretty simple. So to the person reading this psalm when it was written, that's what verse 3 meant; the first part. But have a listen again to the second part of the verse:

Your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Olive shoots, these new shoots of plants that grow into mighty olive trees that bear one of the staples of the Eastern diet – olives, from which comes the precious commodity of olive oil.

Now have a listen