Termites of Joy

Reading:   Leviticus 8-10

Putting your house in order requires an earnest effort to set an example and teach your children appropriate truths and lessons.  So what are those lessons, the essential ones?  It is a good question...

Aaron learned this lesson in a tragic fashion; two of his sons, ordained priests, were literally devoured by fire after they made inappropriate offerings to God (Leviticus chapter 11).  Aaron and his remaining sons were commanded not to mourn the loss of them or they too should die.  So what was the lesson?

LEVITICUS 10:10-11

10    And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; 

11    And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. 

There are two essential lessons that we as parents need to emphasize in our teaching; the difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean.  Teach the difference, make sure your children understand the difference. Return often to your children with examples and questions regarding these poles of difference.  Again, clean and unclean, holy and unholy, must be understood and easily recognized.  In order to teach the statutes of God effectively, these two essential lessons must be paramount in the process.

Below is a portion of a talk from Russell M. Nelson, Set in Order Thy House, delivered in the Sunday morning session of the October 2001 General Conference.  It is very appropriate to the topic of teaching and holding tight to your family in these turbulent times:

 Parents and children should realize that strong opposition will always come against the work and will of the Lord. (See Moro. 7:12-19) Because the work (and glory) of God is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life as a family, (See Moses 1:39) it logically follows that the work of the adversary will strike directly at the heart of the home-the family. Relentlessly Lucifer attacks the sanctity of life and the joy of parenthood. 

 Because the evil one is ever at work, our vigilance cannot be relaxed-not even for a moment. A small and seemingly innocent invitation can turn into a tall temptation which can lead to tragic transgression. Night and day, at home or away, we must shun sin and "hold fast that which is good." (1 Thes. 5:21) 

 The seditious evils of pornography, abortion, and addiction to harmful substances serve as termites to erode the undergirding strength of a happy home and a faithful family. We cannot yield to any iniquity without putting our families at risk. 

 Satan wants us to be miserable just as he is. (See 2 Ne. 2:17-18, 27) He would animate our carnal appetites, entice us to live in spiritual darkness and doubt the reality of life after death. The Apostle Paul observed, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (1 Cor. 15:19) 

A powerful elbow to the gut of desire, eh?  Ultimately, joy comes from the understanding of holy, clean, choices and abstaining, thoroughly recognizing, that which is unclean and unholy.  As parents it is hard to sometimes make the distinction between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, and often times we may choose incorrectly in our haste to keep moving forward but, once the bad choice is recognized, immediate action must be taken to correct the wrong and return to truth swiftly.  The longer we wait, the longer we justify or question wether something truly is wrong, the tighter the
anchor of deceit grows heavy around our neck.  Get upright as soon as possibly, don't hesitate!

The termites of joy, mentioned in the title, are Satan's seditious evils; our carnal desires that nibble away at our happiness until the very foundation is gone and we are lost in the darkness of our own inner betrayal.

~Kipling