With Mother’s Day and Father’s Day just around the corner, we’re entering the season of honoring our parents. It’s gotten me to thinking about the times in Scripture when the parent/child relationship is highlighted. There’s one that’s rather famous.
In fact, if I were to ask you “Which of the 10 Commandments comes with a promise” you would likely know. It’s the commandment to honor your father and your mother, “that your days may be long in the land.”
We often focus on the first part of that promise “that your days may be long…” and we stop there.
At first glance it makes sense that “honoring our parents” would lead to long life, in the land or anywhere. Parents usually know better; there is much less drama when kids obey, which leads to less life-shortening stress for everybody—kids and parents; and often the commands from parents are life- preserving commands like “Don’t run into the street!”
But it’s the last part of the promise… “in the land” where we really get to the heart of the promise.
Think about Israel and the systems of teaching and blessings that God had set up. God had given His people these great decrees for them to obey. By obeying them they would reflect His traits to their surrounding nations; so God would bless them in that land He is giving them FOR A LONG TIME as He uses them to show His light to the lands around them. As long as they obeyed these decrees, thus reflecting His traits, this would work.
Now think about THE primary way of teaching these decrees and thus enjoying these blessings: It was from the teaching from parent to child. The parent generation was given two key duties with regard to the younger generation. First, teach these decrees to the children. They were to teach formally and intentionally and but also teach through the fabric of life—when you come and go, when you eat, when you walk along. Secondly, the parent generation was to tell of God’s ways and how he has worked in their lives. When your child asks, “Why do we do this?” as you celebrate the Passover meal, share about God redeeming you from Egypt’s slavery.
Then we come to that fifth commandment of the 10. You can now hear a parenthetical phrase implied “Honor your father and your mother (who will be teaching you these great decrees that you will need to obey God in order to show God’s light in the land He is taking you) that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
Thus the reason for the promise. Obedience to parents was to create the soft ground for obeying the decrees they were teaching.
One of the highest levels of exchange between parent and child are the things of faith. I have been a child all of my life and I have been the blessed recipient of parents teaching me God’s Word and sharing with me God’s ways…and I can tell they believe it. I think that’s been the best single blessing in my life for keeping me soft to the message of gospel.
I am actually a new parent of a 2-year old and a 3-year old, soon to be a 3-year old and a 4-year old. One of my greatest tasks is to teach them God’s decrees and share with them how God has worked in my life. And I am to do it in a way that displays to them that I believe it. This will probably be seen more in my actions than my words.
So maybe as we enter into the season of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day we can honor parents and the older generation around us by hearing what they have to say to us, letting them tell their stories of God’s work in their lives.
And maybe we can love our kids by teaching them God’s Word and telling them of God’s ways giving them every opportunity to enjoy the rich life of being God’s light in redeeming a dark world.
FREE TOOLS!
For ideas in fostering interaction between your teens and the older generations around them, download “Tools for Older/Younger” here!
Check out the vlog version of this post here!