05/13/18 A MOTHER'S DAY THOUGHT
We are saved by keeping the law. NO, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT OUR SOUL BEING SAVED OR RECEIVING ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH.
But we are SAVED FROM A GREAT DEAL OF SUFFERING AND LOSS. Of course keeping the moral law of God is fulfilled in the Two Great Commandments concerning loving God with the whole heart, mind, soul and strength AND loving our neighbor as ourselves. AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT JESUS SAID.
Honoring mother and father is the first commandment (addressing our relationship with other people), and it sets the standard for family relationships. I am convinced that this is the foundation stone in right relationships with parents, siblings, friends, our own spouse, our own children and all other human relationships.
If fact, it provides the foundation for a right relationship with God. Parents must communicate the moral standards and affection, which introduces the children to the nature of God. Children must learn submission to legitimate authority and what it means to live together in community with family members. This is essential for all subsequent relationships.
Parents should be honored by the children. BUT DON'T FORGET, the parents need to live honorably and lead exemplary lives. Still, parents living as they ought to live is no guarantee that the children will respond properly. (REMEMBER, ADAM AND EVE HAD THE PERFECT PARENT, AND SEE HOW THAT TURNED OUT). In fact, the uprightness of one person (even if it is God) does not ensure the right response from anyone else. That is OUR OWN CHOICE. We decide on whether we will be the people God wants us to be.
God designed the home for such exposure and training. DON'T MESS UP YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE THE BEST YOU CAN, regardless of how they may respond to it.
Proverbs 1:8-9
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
Proverbs 6:20-22
20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
Proverbs 10:1-2
1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Proverbs 20:20
20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
Proverbs 23:22-25
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
Proverbs 29:15
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Proverbs 30:11-17
11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:
16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
