Honour

 "Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/exo.20.12.ESV

Note what this verse doesn't say. It doesn't say to honour our fathers and mothers if they're honourable. Simply for bringing us into the world, they should be honoured.

If even bad parents are honoured, hopefully our honour of them will convict them to be better parents. As Jesus said, 'if you, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father'. We don't have to let our parents lead us into sin if they're bad parents, but we do have to honour them.

Paul notes that this is the first of the ten commandments with a promise. Even now, secular studies suggest that if we're not stressed out (for example by fractious relationships with parents) we're likely to live longer. We should honour our parents because it's the right thing to do, but it's good to know there's good consequences for us if we do.

Of course, parents have responsibilities of their own, to look after their children and not to exasperate them. We all as children however need to heed this command. If we don't honour our own parents, how can we be expected to honour our heavenly Father?

'Father in heaven, thank You for our parents. Please help us to honour them, even when it's hard to do so, for Your honour and praise we pray, amen'

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mercy

  For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. Deuteronomy 4:31 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.4.31.ESV Jesus Christ is Lord. That's why they crucified Him, for claiming to be God and King: blasphemy to the Jews and treason to the Romans. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So the same Jesus of yesterday is the Jesus of today. He was merciful yesterday, and He'll be merciful today and forever. He doesn't just turn around and decide to destroy people He's lavished His mercy upon. If we've received God's mercy, or if we receive it now, or before Christ returns, nothing can separate us from the love of God. If we want God's presence in our lives, and we cry out to Him for it, He's not going to abandon us in the wilderness of our sin. If we claim God's Bible promises for ourselves in faith, we are safe in Him. God promises never t
Read more

Power

 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.Exodus 9:16 ESVhttps://bible.com/bible/59/exo.9.16.ESV  Secular historians point to the lack of extra-biblical evidence of Hebrew slavery in Egypt and ensuing exodus. But here in this verse, God describes how this anonymous Pharoah has been immortalised in the annals of the Hebrews, so that God is proclaimed in all the earth. The mighty men of the world might think they can stand against God and win, but resistance is futile!  The more stubborn Pharoah was, the more the Lord was able to display His power. The more insistent Pharoah was of keeping his slaves, the more unreasonable he appeared. It was a battle of wills, and the will of Yahweh prevailed.  In the end, Pharoah will have been broken by the plagues. In the final plague, his own firstborn son was killed, the next in line to the throne of the world superpower. He might have tried to put a brave face on it, but he
Read more

Opposition

  Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 2 Timothy 3:8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2ti.3.8.ESV Jannes and Jambres are the names of the Egyptian magicians who tried to persuade Pharoah not to let God's people go. It wasn't hard for them to encourage him. They might have been able to replicate some of Moses' miracles, but miracles alone are not necessarily signs of divine approval. The devil has power to work deceptive miraculous signs that point people away from God instead of towards Him. Sadly, some charlatan, counterfeit 'Christians' claim to perform miracles (that tend to be fake). Truth is that faith in God is the real miracle for sinners like us. Moses was seeking to lead God's people to the promised land. Jannes and Jambres wanted to keep them in slavery in Egypt. Jesus wants to free us from slavery to sin. Satan wants to keep us out of God's prom
Read more