Obey Your Parents

Obey Your Parents
Text: Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1; Genesis 2:24

Portion For Reading :Gen 22:6-19

Summary: Children are instructed by God to obey their parents.
Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. - Exodus 20:12

This is the first of God's commandments with a promise. If we honor our parents, God says we will have a long life and it will be well with us. But how do we honor our parents? One way is to obey them.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. - Ephesians 6:1

This is another time in the Bible when God instructs us to obey our parents. Notice that it is plural, saying parents, not just the father or the mother. Whew! What a job! We have to obey not just one parent, but both of them.Have you ever wondered why God gave children such an impossible task? It is because he knows that it is hard for children to do it without asking Jesus to help them. Jesus wants us to pray and talk to him all the time, and this is one of the ways he gets us to do that. And what about the parents? In all the organizations in the world, especially the military, they never give anyone two bosses. They only have one commander, one chain of command. It would be hard for a soldier to follow orders if he had two people telling him what to do.

But Jesus, in his infinite wisdom, put two parents in charge of the kids. He knew they would have to be talking to each other all the time to keep things straight. For example, have you ever asked Mom to let you do something, and she said no. So then you went and asked Dad, hoping he would say yes without talking it over with Mom first? Hmmm? Well, the answer is because Jesus sees parents as if they are one person, not two.

Now to children God says, "...obey your parents...." That means to listen to their directions, seek to understand them; seek to carry out their intent to the best of your ability.

Since the Lord has put parents over children, rebellion against parents is rebellion against the Lord.

*Children should look after their parents when they get old (when they are 60 year old maybe).

* Our parents have done a lot for us because they brought us up and gave us all that we needed.
* So when they get old we should look after them as well.

Activity for Today: Bible Word Puzzle