Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

What will life be like when the dust settles and quietness returns? What will be the rewards for beginning and cultivating a family according to God’s direction? How will it be in my empty nest?

To begin with, we will be “blessed” (Psalm 128:4). I take this to mean that we, personally, will be happy. There will be happy memories. There will also be the happiness sustained through good relationships with our adult offspring.

Furthermore, the psalmist states that “Jerusalem” will be a better place. That was the city where he lived. There will be civil blessings that come as a result of releasing into society a happy, healthy, young adult. The cities where our offspring choose to live will be better places if they emerge from a family that has prepared them for life.

Finally, “Peace be upon Israel!” Ultimately, the nation will be blessed of God. It is automatic. Healthy, well-disciplined, loving homes produce people who make a nation peaceful and strong. As the family goes, so goes the nation. When you boil it down to the basics, the pulse of an entire civilization is determined by the heartbeat of its homes.

When it comes to rearing children, every society is only 20 years away from barbarism. Twenty years is all we have to accomplish the task of civilizing the infants who are born into our midst each year. These savages know nothing of our language, our culture, our religion, our values, our customs of interpersonal relations. The infant is totally ignorant about communism, fascism, democracy, civil liberties, the rights of the minority as contrasted with the prerogative of the majority, respect, decency, honesty, customs, conventions and manners. The barbarian must be tamed if civilization is to survive.¹