From Dream to Deliverance
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, In my prayer for families, today, I turn to praying for children. Children everywhere are being bombarded by the world with images of “family” that have no resemblance to Your will or design for families. I pray that right now, You will touch our children, and all children everywhere with the truth of Your Holy Spirit that families are to be honored, that parents are to be obeyed, that children are to be loved, nurtured and admonished to grow up in the fear and honor of You, our God. I pray that You will pour out Your Holy Spirit into our children, that they may come to a saving knowledge of and relationship with You, that they may receive spiritual gifts that You will use to build up our families, our congregation, our community and ultimately our world. I pray that from among the children of Christian parents around the world, You will call for the leaders for today and tomorrow—not only in the church but in business, education and government as well. I pray that as they love, honor and obey You and their parents that You will fulfill Your promise that they may have a long, good life on the earth, and that one day they may experience the joy of eternity with You. All this I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word For Me Today
Ephesians 5:21-28a; 6:1-4
21And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22You wives will submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord. 23For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; he gave his life to be her Savior. 24As the church submits to Christ, so you wives must submit to your husbands in everything.
25And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her 26to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s word. 27He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies.
1Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. 2“Honor your father and mother.” This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. 3And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, “you will live a long life, full of blessing.”
4And now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.
Reflecting on God’s Word
What does it mean for you that children are to “obey” their parents because they belong to the Lord?
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
What commands does the Apostle Paul give children in today’s Scripture? (6:1-3)
What commands does He give fathers? ( 6:4)
Understanding God’s Word
Why do you suppose that Paul takes the time to reiterate the fifth commandment to children in his letter to the Colossian Christians?
Why do you suppose that Paul only offers a word of instruction to fathers, but not to mothers?
Applying God’s Word to Our Lives
What is the most important command for you to implement in today’s Scripture reading?
Thoughts...Children, Obey...Fathers, Bring Them Up...
In completing God’s dream for families, the Apostle Paul makes it clear that not only husbands and wives must relate to one another in a proper way, but also children and parents—particularly fathers. Children are reminded to obey their parents in the Lord. Here he reiterates the fifth commandment from the Law of Moses, and reminds us that of all ten commandments only one has a promise—the one to honor our parents. The promise is that we will live long in the land the Lord has given us. The way children relate with parents can be a blessing not only to parents, but also to themselves. Obedience is its own reward. As we look around these days it’s evident that there are a lot of delays, difficulties and dead-ends when it comes to seeing this command come to deliverance. We hear so often of how children and young people disrespect authority of all kinds, even parental authority. Paul give us some instruction as to why this may be so in his “word” to the fathers. Apparently Paul saw that fathers are prone to provoking their children to anger, to treating them in such a way that they didn’t respond with obedience. He mentions nothing about mothers in this regard, apparently because mothers aren’t as prone to this error. Obedience is required of children whether parents are positive or not, but the dream becomes reality much more quickly when parents respond appropriately with the “discipline and instruction the Lord approves”. Paul’s words of wisdom are, indeed, that as they demonstrate that the dream of a healthy family rests on ALL parties taking part and putting God first in the process!