Children Have A Responsibility To

 

Children Have A Responsibility To

Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”

     Is God in the killing business?  Not necessarily.  Surely His grace reigns upon the ignorant as He decides to deflect His wrath in His mercies.  Punishment is not His first go to.  But, as with His character, He cannot betray Himself.

     I take it that you are not a child.  If you access this blog, I would guess you are an adult.  So what does this verse mean to us today?  I mean:

Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

     We are supposed to leave and create our own family unit.  Such independency!  Free at last!  Not quite.  The strings are still there.

     If you hold the family name as with an American man, you perpetuate the legacy.  Either good or bad, you bear the mark.  Now you decide whether to break the cycle of torment, say of alcoholism, or you decide to stay in the groove.  Whatever the choice, you pass old or new behaviors on to your trusting children.

     Not one of us has had perfect childhoods where Dad was always fair, and Mom was always nurturing.  Harsh reality is that in addition to Jesus being in the family mix, flesh was there also. So where do these verses come in?

Titus 3 "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another."

    Here God talks of subjection to rulers, but authority starts in the home.  Even if we move away, we are not to speak evil of our parents.  If there is nothing good to say, don’t say it!  God holds a blessing for those who obey this commandment. “That it may be well with thee…”

     Peace is something the whole extended family can enjoy.  He knows discrepancies, yet He calls us to rise above the mud and show thankfulness.  Please forgive, be creative, and paint a real but fortunate picture your children can be proud of.

  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Church Picture

  The Church Picture 2 Samiuel 6: 20  “ Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! 21  And David said unto Michal, It was before the  Lord , which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the  Lord , over Israel: therefore will I play before the  Lord . 22  And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. ” Revelation 4: 10  “ The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive ...
Read more

Infectious Disease

  Infectious Disease      I watch network T.V., the free kind over the airwaves.   It is inundated with self-help medicine commercials.   I think of Sky-ri-zee .   Perhaps this is the concoction for clearer skin.   What wouldn’t an Aaronic priest have given for this special med?   “Got a blemish?   Come closer, son.   Looks like the onset of leprosy.   Go away.   Two pills in the mouth and come back in seven.”   Much of Leviticus would have to be rewritten.   The red heifer sacrifice could be summed up with a cream.   “Touched a dead body?   Rub this on the contact area.   Go away.   Come back tomorrow.”      But what if pills don’t work?   Adam would have O.D.’d on the blue and reds seeking to forget the fall. Thankfully the neighborhood drug store was not on his corner.   He heard vaguely of a savior to come.   God said it was in his genes.   ...
Read more

God's Successive Revelations

  God’s Successive Revelations Search Me diligently, and I will reveal Myself to you.      Yah, that sound like something God would say.   I understand He revealed the Trinity to us.   I plead ignorance in Church history.   Some theologians, perhaps 400 A.D. came upon this gem that we hold true today.   The idea of the rapture is new on the Church radar.   Late 1800’s?      What if God revealed His truth to His people in time?   Surely, Solomon was the wisest man in his day, but did he know about Pentecost?   Daniel, the far seer, was only shown glimpses.   What did he know of Peter and miracles in the temple?   A certain king discovered God’s truth again and that made for a reformation, but what did he know of the beast standing in the sea?   God gives insight in His time.      I have trained seven children.   As young  children, I did not flood them with...
Read more