June 2 Children Submit

Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” – which is the first commandment with a promise - 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 
 
I am sure you parents love this verse. Certainly when you have a child of any age who is disobedient, you can point to such Scriptures as the reason children should obey and honor parents. Yes, God says so.
    But we know this doesn’t mean much to a disobedient child, does it? Again, the sin issue in the human soul creates discord and separation from God’s created order. We remember the horrible crime in Adam and Eve’s children as Cain killed Abel. Children are under Satan’s vicious attack.
    Let’s understand some ways to divert evil and receive God’s goodness. What we must understand here is the difference between “obey” and “honor”. We obey laws and rules to avoid punishment. In contrast, honor means we love and respect those in authority over us. We obey them because we respect who they are. We see good things in them. They see good things in us, and loving communication exists between them and us.
    When Paul writes, “Obey your parents.” he adds “in the Lord”. In this way, he points to an honoring obedience as the reason for the obedience. This honoring relationship reminds us of God’s promise in the fifth commandment, recorded in Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
    Regarding the promise in the command, “that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” understand this is not a “prosperity gospel”. God does not say everyone who honors his parents will live a long life.
    What he does say is that honoring one’s parents will lead to a union in the family that will help them see the Lord. God created the family to bear his image into the world. He is commanding the family to live in honor with each other just as they are to obey the first three commands: honor God above all other things; worship (honor) God only; and honor God’s name. A family centered on God will live long, even forever, in his promises.
    But perhaps you wonder, “How can this become reality with my children?” We’ll answer this in part in the next lesson.
 
Prayer: Lord, God, I pray I honor my parents. I pray I honor and obey you. I pray I look to you as my model to be a loving, honoring parent. In Jesus’ name, amen.