Devotion 3: Listening to Instruction
Pastor Patrick Bicknell
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother' (this is the first commandment with a promise), 'that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’" Ephesians 6:1–3
There is a moment that I remember very vividly of a time when I was at my parent's house with my son who was about 4 at the time. We were all hanging out for a family dinner, and it was one of those days when my son was deciding that he knew better than me and didn't want to listen at all. I was starting to get very frustrated. I looked over to my dad and said, "I don't understand. Why won't he listen to me?" I will never forget how my dad responded. He chuckled, looked at me, and said, "Welcome to the club." It doesn't matter if you are a boy or girl, how old you are, or how good your relationship is with your parents, at one point or another you are most likely not going to listen to your parents. If you are like me, unfortunately, it is going to take you longer than you should to learn the lesson that you need to listen to your parent's instructions.
One of the best things as parents that we can do for our children is to teach them the ways of following the Lord, and one of the best things that children can do is to listen and learn from their parents.
I love this verse in Proverbs that says, "A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke" (Proverbs 13:1). None of us are perfect when it comes to living out these truths. Parents can always be better at instructing their children, and children can always be better at listening to that instruction. However, I want to encourage you for a minute. The fact that you are reading this together, right now, proves that you are trying and that you desire to follow the Lord. It is a beautiful thing to learn from our parents the truths that God has revealed to them. There is no better person in our lives to teach us how to follow than our parents. We see them at their best and their worst. We see them in mountaintops and valleys.
Parents, I know that can be a little frightening, but don't worry. Although we fail many times, the Lord is faithful and strong to help us in our weaknesses. Children, know that your parents will fail to live up to the standard of Christ just as you will to your children one day. However, that does not give us an excuse to not follow our parent's instructions. Let's all strive to live out what Paul said in 1 Corinthians, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Read this passage as a family and discuss your thoughts on it.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9