Gettysburg Seventh-day Adventist Church

Scripture: Get up, for it is your duty to tell us how to proceed in setting things straight. We are behind you, so be strong and take action.” Ezra 10:4 (NLT)

Observation: This matter belongeth unto thee. Or, “it is your task” (RSV). Since Ezra’s commission included the responsibility of executing judgment on those who would not obey the law of God (ch. 7:26), Ezra was morally obligated to take action. Shechaniah’s assurance, “we are with you” (RSV), must have greatly encouraged Ezra, who realized that any action he might take in this matter would make him most unpopular with a considerable number of guilty men.
Then arose Ezra. Without hesitation he acted at once, binding the religious leaders by an oath to carry out the suggestion of Shechaniah, with which Ezra was in complete agreement. To confirm such an important decision with an oath was in harmony with OT usage (see Joshua 2:12; Deut. 6:13; etc.). [The Seventh©day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 3. 1977 (F. D. Nichol, Ed.). Review and Herald Publishing Association.]

Application: Every home must have a leader, the head of the household, who the rest of the family may follow.  The ideal is that the husband will assume that responsibility – it was God’s plan and design that it be so.  But we can’t ignore the reality that there are many women who have to assume the role of the head of the household because they are single mothers or because their husband has abandoned his responsibility.

What does it mean to be the head of your household?  What are you called to do or to be?

1. As the head of the home, it is your responsibility to see that your family does what God says you are to do, not simply what you say they are to do.

2. It is your responsibility as head of your home to lead. The only way you can know if you're leading is simple – Is anyone following? As General Norman Schwarzkoff once remarked, “If you are in command, then lead.”

3. As head of your home, you should be three things to your family:
- PROTECTOR – Physically (1 Timothy 3:4), Emotionally (2 Samuel 12:16), and 3. Spiritually (1 Samuel 3:13)
- PROVIDER - Of Stability (Ephesians 6:4; Psalm 112:2), of Physical Needs (2 Corinthians 12:14), and of Independence (Proverb 22:6; 2 Chronicles 26:4)
- PRIEST - Practicing Prayer (Deuteronomy 6:7), Obeying God's Word (Psalm 22:4),  Demonstrating Obedience to God (James 1:14-15), and Demonstrating Consistency (Deuteronomy 4:9)

Today, it is critical for the health and well-being of your family to stand up and lead them.  Strong, yet loving, leadership will inspire confidence in you and in the God you serve and follow.

A Prayer You May Say: Father God, help us, as heads of our households, to lead our family to follow You through our own example of fair, loving leadership.

Used by permission of Adventist Family Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.