Topic: Obedient Children [Thursday 12, October 2017]
Memorise: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. – Exodus 20:12
Read: Ephesians 6:1-3 (KJV)
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Bible in One Year: 2 Corinthians 1-3, Daniel 5:29-6:13, Hymn: Sing Hymn 16 – God Give Us Christian Homes!
MESSAGE:
Children are assets of the Almighty God entrusted to our care. We must therefore ensure that we do all we can to nurture them for the Lord and not for ourselves. We should strive to receive commendation from the Lord for our efforts in bringing them up as children He can be proud of. Raising children in today’s world is serious business. Unfortunately, we live in a world where parents have left to chance or entirely neglected the huge tasking of bringing up their children in the fear of the Lord. Many parents justify themselves by concluding that they are helpless, and they shift the blame of their own failures to the happenings in the society. In the time of father Abraham, there were also parents who did not bring up their children to follow the path of God, but for Abraham, his testimony was different. God said this concerning him in Genesis 18:19:
“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
If you want to raise children who will be obedient to the Lord, you must be ready to start right from the beginning of the child’s life. That is what parenting is all about. It involves training and educating a child from the phase of infancy through to adulthood. If you carry out the job of parenting as unto the Lord, you will be well rewarded by Him. There are many parents who realise late in life that they have neglected their roles as parents. In order to make amends, some of them begin to make efforts at “repairing” the lives of their children, but at that point, they discover it has become a herculean task.
Obedient children are godly children, committed to a life of honesty in all they do. Such children will never bring shame, reproach or embarrassment to the God of their fathers, because they have a deep understanding of the covenant upon which they have been groomed. There are parents today who have lost control of their children. Some other parents have turned their children into symbols of idolatry. They fear their children more than they fear God. May that not be your portion in Jesus’ Name. Obedient children must honour their parents. They must respect them irrespective of their status in society, if they want to live a life without regret. When their parents need their attention or help, they must be there for them. They must also be ready to submit wilfully to their instructions, corrections and rebuke. There are children who bring sorrow to their parents. On the other hand, children of destiny bring great comfort to everyone around them. Are you a child of destiny?
Prayer Point: Father, let my children please You always, and grant me grace to care for my parents.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
