Sunday, May 10, 2009

Widen Your Tent


As I look back on more than a quarter century of being married with family, I often think about profitable investments that could have been. I am not thinking of Google or Yahoo, but something greater—good relationships that stretch wide and far bringing stability and joy to those we love most. The Greek philosopher Euripides wrote long ago, “It is a good thing to be rich, it is a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be beloved of many friends.”A good quality of life is not found in the measure of ones net-worth, but in the measure of ones love-worth. I pray that your home would be peppered with people, rather than your investments popping with profit. Here is the better investment for the young and ambitious: Enlarge the place of your tent.I borrowed that phrase from Isaiah who spoke to Israel during the time of her youthful smallness. Isaiah instructed Israel to prepare her present home for a future grace; to expand her foundations for a future fullness. Thus Isaiah wrote, “Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities” (Isaiah 54:2-3). Isaiah was a wise forecaster, preparing Israel in the delight of future profit. You too must take Isaiah’s words to heart. I have something to say about that.I am thinking about a series of posts. I started to complete this post by giving you five indispensable ‘widening’ strategies you can’t afford to neglect. But, as I started to develop each, I realized that I was writing on not one, but five individual posts. So, lest I labor you with more material than you want in one sitting, I will give them to you a bite at a time. This is the sum of them all:

First
Prepare your lifestyle for people
Second
Prepare your heart for giving
Third
Prepare your mind for loyalty
Fourth
Prepare your environment with discretion
Fifth
Prepare your home for hospitality

So, this is where we will go in the weeks to come. You will just need to remember the theme and developing support in these five.