2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
The Lord directs me to examine EPH 6: 1-4. You'll remember that we have already looked at EPH 6: 10-20 [God's full armor] earlier. That will leave only EPH 5: 5-9 for tomorrow's message to complete our look at this remarkable epistle from Paul to the Ephesians. Today's passage will let us see all that God has given us in this epistle on how to use the blessings He gave us in the first three chapters. Verses 1-4 deal with parents and children.
EPH 6: 1-4, "Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. 'Respect your father and mother' is the first commandment that has a promises added: 'so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land.' Parents, do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian disciplines and instruction." By far, this is not all that the Bible has to say about the important issue of parenting or God's will for children, but it does get to the heart of some very serious problems that exist in today's society. Let's look at children first. I remember being raised never to sass my parents or act disrespectful to them. That doesn't mean I was a perfect child and never did these things. As a matter of fact, I gave my parents plenty of challenges. However, there were limits to what I was willing to do, limits that many children don't put on themselves today. Parenting is probably the most difficult job we will ever do. It is also one of the most important. In our household when I was growing up, there were consequences for bad behavior. You may remember me telling you about the "swear box" that we children were expected to fill with hard-earned nickels, dimes, and quarters when foul language slipped from our mouths. More serious infractions sometimes yielded a spanking or being forcibly excused from dinner that night and made to consider our actions in the solitude of our rooms. That happened to me that day when at the age of 8, I went wondering off to play with a friend without letting my mother know where I was for the whole day. That happened to be the day my mother was expecting a restful visit from out of state company. Instead, the company, my parents, and the police were out looking for me. I never did that again, you can be sure! None of the messages of this passage is new. They can be seen in EX 20: 12; DT 5: 16; and COL 3: 19-20.
Today's parents have even greater challenges that mine did. That is because of the flesh-led media, easy access to drugs and alcohol, and children being raised by day care providers or spending their childhood as latch-key children. Nothing has been more devastating to raising well balanced, moral adults than the breakdown of the family unit and today's practice of both parents working outside the home. These may seem like harsh things to say, but they are the truth. Humanism in the schools has been another serious blight on our society, which has caused a generation of children to be raised without a conscience. That is how the rash of shootings in schools, drug and alcohol addiction, and increase in juvenile crime has arisen. One need only watch the program, "Cops," to see what a difficult problem our police face. One case that was on the other night involved a 28 yr. old woman with five children between the ages of 7 months and 9 years. She was addicted to crack cocaine and had left all her children alone without food or supervision for 3 days before the police finally picked her up. No father for these children was anywhere to be seen. We must remember that this mother was once a child herself, and it is likely she was either neglected or abused. Now, she behaves toward her children this way, because the devil has a stronghold in her life. While that doesn't excuse her behavior, it explains the reasons for it.
PR 28: 7, "A young man who obeys the law is intelligent. One who makes friends with good-for-nothings is a disgrace to his father." PR 23: 22, "Listen to your father; without him you would not exist. When your mother is old, show her your appreciation." Here is some of the advice Paul gave to his young protégé, Timothy. 1 TIM 4: 12, "Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for the believers in your speech, your conduct, your love, faith, and purity." All of this Scriptural advice is underpinned by one unifying factor. That is the presence and leadership of God in our lives as parents and as children. We simply can't go through life successfully without God. 1 COR 2: 14, "Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them; they are nonsense to him, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis." Those gifts are clearly outline in GA 5: 22-23, "But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these." Without faith in the Lord, we have no access to His enduring and profound wisdom.
PRAYER: O Lord, we see in the comparison of Your word to the problems of parents and children in today's society, the quintessential conflict between being led by the flesh and led by the Spirit. No rationalization or attempt to combine these two belief systems can ever be successful. Your thoughts and ways are higher and different from ours; we can't reach Your level of understanding. However, You have given us Your Spirit to help us stretch toward that and in so doing better our lives as parents and children. You have taught us to reject things we are exposed to that don't come from You, but come from the adversary. At the same time, You command that we embrace what You teach us, knowing that doing so is the only way we can come to faith and enjoy the hope of eternal life that You give us. It is up to us to recognize Your sovereignty in parenting and being children and our responsibility to respond appropriately to it. We offer You thanks and praise for the wisdom You hand down to us through the Scriptures and through prayer. We pledge to listen for Your commands and obey them, trusting You to be the always righteous Lord You are. We offer You our humble and honest confession of sins, our loyalty, diligence, honor and glory. We acknowledge that all that is good, wise, and right in our lives comes from You. We adore and worship You. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to look at EPH 5: 5-9. While this passage speaks of slaves and masters and slavery is no longer practiced in our society, it's principles can be applied to an examination of the Godly belief system and the fleshly one. Our Lord has not put anything in the Scriptures which is a waste of our time to read. That is because His love for us is so great that He doesn't want a single one of us to be lost due to a lack of His teaching. Our awesome Father is faithful, and He showers His blessings daily on those who love and obey Him. His faithfulness can be seen in His works. I see this every day as people send in follow-ups on our prayer chain. He is ever-present in our lives and eager to bless us, if we will only listen and follow His commands. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn