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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for January 30, 2009
“Welcome Home!”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
My wife and I were tucked away in the Seminole Room.
That’s a room in our house that is painted in the colors of the Florida State Seminoles.
We heard someone come in the front door, and I said what I always say, “Welcome home!”
I expected to hear the voice of one of our children, but all I got was a giggle.
It was our son’s fiancé.
Why did she giggle? I guess because I gave the big “welcome home” to someone who didn’t live there.
“That’s alright,” I said. “You’re just like one of the family.”
The same thing happened last week. Someone walked in the front door and went straight to the refrigerator. “Welcome home,” I called out. And one of my son’s friends sheepishly poked his head around the corner and smiled at me. My son wasn’t even there. Then another young man popped around the corner and said, “Hello, Mr. Apple.”
Why do I put up with this? Why do I let non-family members walk in the door like that, and go to the refrigerator, no less?
Maybe it goes back to my own teenage years. I don’t know when it started, but somewhere along the line I started entering my friends’ homes without knocking. Not all of them, of course. Just some of them.
And I liked it. I really, really liked it.
Those homes became a home away from home. The parents liked you and accepted you and you knew it. Not that they put up with disrespect. It’s more like they treated you like one of their own.
Some friends’ homes were like this, and some weren’t. Some you didn’t dare enter without knocking. And you certainly never entered if your friend wasn’t there.
But others, it didn’t matter if your friend was there or not. You could go in and chat with the parents, or the siblings. They really treated you like a member of the family.
I still appreciate what they did. I felt their love, and you know what? On some days you really needed it.
My wife and I decided a long time ago that that’s the kind of house we would have – a place where our kids’ friends could just come on in. Not to show disrespect, of course, but to be treated like a member of the family.
Now I’m not saying you have to let people walk in your house without knocking. That certainly isn’t for everyone.
But what is for everyone is this. It’s found in Romans 12:13. “Practice hospitality.”
First Peter 4:9 says, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
Recently I was the guest speaker at a church. Afterward the pastor and his wife invited us to their home where they had prepared a full meal. A few others were invited as well, and the house was full of joy and laughter.
That is hospitality.
In fact, most of the pastors I have known over the years are very good at hospitality. They willingly open their homes and usually have a steady flow of traffic.
The people who lived in our house before us – they were given to hospitality. They welcomed ministers and evangelists, and had an extra bedroom for these special guests.
Both Timothy and Titus say that church leaders should be “hospitable.”
In Acts 10 we read about Simon the tanner. He lived by the sea, which sounds scenic, doesn’t it? And verse 32 says that he showed hospitality to a very special guest – none other than Simon Peter.
Acts 18 says that Priscilla and Aquila had the Apostle Paul over to their home.
In Acts 16, Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira, invited Paul and his entourage to stay at her house.
Acts 28 says a public official welcomed them into his home and entertained them hospitably for three days.
In Galatians 4:14 Paul said that the people welcomed him “as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.”
Now that’s hospitality!
And when he got the chance, Paul also practiced hospitality. In Acts 28 we see that for two years he had his own rented house, and it says he “welcomed all who came to see him.”
So how are you doing at showing hospitality?
It’s about making people feel welcome. They should feel comfortable. And loved. And liked.
We are told to practice hospitality, and to me it kind of all boils down into these words when that front door opens:
“Welcome home!”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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