Honor and live long

DEVOTION

EXODUS

Honor and live long

Ex 20:12

12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

NIV

It is interesting these Ten Commandments are repeated in Deuteronomy, but this one is also repeated in the letter to the Ephesians with somewhat of a commentary.

Eph 6:1-3

6:1 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."  

NIV

Here Paul tells the Ephesians this is the first of the Commandments that has a promise. This is also the first of the last six which deal with the relationships between people, rather than as the first four dealing with our relationship with God. We also note that these commandments in one form or another have been repeated, reinforced in the New Testament. This should give us some reason not to disregard the Old Testament as for those days and those people, but it is the word of God, and as such is God-breathed and good for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. That would mean we need to see the truths for our life throughout all of scripture, including all the Old Testament. This particular one is repeated word for word three times in scripture and thus it would appear to have a great deal of importance to God that we learn this one well. There is a promise associated with this action of our honoring our father and mother. That would also mean that if we do not honor them we will not live a long in this land God has given us. So how do we honor them? Some of us has been reared in households that were not a positive setting. Some of us have been reared my parents that did not believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In light of some of those non positive settings, as believers how then do we fulfill this commandment and enjoy a long life in this land? Some of us are old enough that our parents have already passed on and we have none to honor at this point in our lives. Yet the point still remains as we discuss their lives with our children and grandchildren we should remain respectful of our parents, giving a Christ-like example for our descendants to follow. For those of us who still have parents to honor, we should indeed do just that for it is a command of God. Sometimes children need to see that we parents, even in our old age, still feel our lives have relevance and value. We might have some limitations and inabilities and children should not mock us because of that.  We should all remember, not matter what type of parent we had or are, children should understand the parent provided for them in their infancy and their dependency for every aspect of life. Some might have been a little rough around the edges, some even cruel to a point, yet we managed to live through all circumstances due to their provisions. We did not starve to death, nor were without shelter and clothing. There is a point in all our lives that we have to admit our parents gave us the needs of life and thus are due our respect. Some may not have been the best parents in the world, some may have been uneducated and/or poor, but they may have made their best efforts. We also need to examine our lives as parents. Have we been parents that are due the respect of our children? If they are believers they are obligated, by God, to show us honor and respect, but in our self-examination are we rightfully due that respect? We live both lives, as children and as parents. It would be wise as children, even of parents that have passed on, never to speak ill of them. We set the bar for how our children look upon us and therefor how they will live an example for their children. If we are the first of believers in our family structure, then it is even more important for us to set the right example. No matter what, we are to honor our father and mother for this is God’s will concerning our lives. Then we can live long and prosper.