1 Samuel 7:17<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the LORD.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s something very special about Samuel\u2019s ministry. Verse 16 says that Samuel, \u201cwent from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places,\u201d and yet, despite his very busy travel ministry, the Bible says that he always, \u201creturned to Ramah.\u201d Why? \u201cFor his home was there.\u201d Samuel traveled quite a lot as he served Israel, but he was careful to always make time for his family. For this reason, he also made Ramah his ministry headquarters and built an altar there. Irrespective of wherever he went or whatever other altars he built, he ensured that there was a functioning altar at home. We need to respect Samuel for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, that\u2019s not the case for many leaders today. It\u2019s sad to observe that so many leaders spend so much time away from home, and this habit undoubtedly must have a negative impact on their family life. They may justify it as \u201czeal for the Lord\u2019s house,\u201d but is it God\u2019s will to build God\u2019s people and neglect your home? Is that God\u2019s purpose and pattern for the family?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some leaders don\u2019t see their families for weeks and months and don\u2019t have any time to build their family altar. This is wrong!! I confess as a leader, it can be very difficult to make the right balance, but this balance is essential for a balanced life and ministry. Whether as a man or woman, leaders must prioritize family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we labor to build the Church and serve our generation, we must not neglect family. Too many Christian homes are broken down because there was no functional altar at home. Too many marriages are frail because spouses don\u2019t spend enough time together. Too many children lack effective home mentorship because parents don\u2019t have time for them. As pilgrims, irrespective of our occupation or responsibilities, whether single or married, make time for family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t neglect your family because of other pressing \u201cout of home\u201d assignments. Serve outside. Serve everywhere. Grow your ambition. Pursue your dreams. But please, prioritize family!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1 Samuel 7:17 \u201cBut he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the LORD.\u201d There\u2019s something very special about Samuel\u2019s ministry. Verse 16 says that Samuel, \u201cwent from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-reflections-from-1st-samuel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/1-Samuel-Cover.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6517,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6515\/revisions\/6517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}