Set Thine House in Order

Isaiah 38:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

Just a quick thought that I was reminded of in my Bible reading this week…

If you are a witnessing Christian, you are frequently reminding people that (1) as sinners they have an appointment with death (Romans 5:12; Hebrews 9:27); (2) that they are not guaranteed tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1; James 4:15; 2 Corinthians 6:2); and (3) that they had better “make their peace with God” before it is too late (Romans 5:1; Isaiah 55:6-7). And that’s good. Keep it up.

But if you are a husband or a father, there’s another application of the first 2 points that you ought to consider. You know you’re going to die, but you don’t know when, and it may very well be an unexpected event. Hezekiah was an exceptional case. He got a warning (and ended up with 15 extra years). But when God warned Hezekiah that he was going to die, he suggested that he set his house in order.

I’m not saying this is a definite commandment for a NT Christian, but I am saying that since you’re not promised another breath and since you’ve got an obligation to provide for your own house (1 Timothy 5:8) and since God thought it important enough to tell Hezekiah to do it, it’d be a good idea to do whatever you can to set your house in order.

If you die, who’s going to take care of your wife and kids? If you and your wife die, who’s going to take care of your kids? If you die, what’s going to happen to your stuff? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather make those decisions for myself while I’m alive than let the state make those decisions for me when I’m dead.

I’m by no means an expert on these things, but here are a few practical suggestions:

1. Buy some life insurance if you can possibly afford it.

2. Sign a will and a living will. You can probably find forms and instructions online for free.

3. Encourage your wife and/or daughter to have some type of marketable skills, should she ever need them.

4. Instill as much of the word of God and the love of God into your children while you can.

5. Enjoy every moment God gives you with your family as much as possible. None of you will be around forever.