Manly Training Ministries
Kids are wonderful, aren’t they? I have three of them and our life has no shortage of thrills and adventures! It reminds me of a very curious scientific fact about ice that other solids do not have. Ice floats on water versus most other substances in their solid state which sink when put into the same substance in its liquid state. But water is different. That is kind of a strange phenomena, isn’t it?
Was it a Mistake?
Do you think God messed up when he made water? Maybe with it being one of the fist things He created, God didn’t quite have all the facts yet. Do you think? Actually, God is a whole lot smarter than us. It is because of some of the unique properties of water, a substance that makes up 75% of the earth and even makes up a large portion of your body, that life is even possible.
Because ice floats, the oceans and rivers and lakes can continue to keep all of the living things in the ocean alive. Ice even acts as a blanket to the water underneath keeping it from freezing in the cold air temperatures. Because water can absorb a lot of heat, the temperature range keeps the earth to a range where life can function. It is because water is designed the way it is, with all of its unique properties, that life on earth is even possible.
Did God Mess up?
There are times when we look at something, like water, and we may think that it seems like a mistake. But it is only when we look at things from a broader perspective that we can see how truly amazing the structure and design of certain things are.
The same is true for the design of the family and certain other roles in society that He has created. God has designed and given responsibilities to different roles in society so that things will work at its the best. It may not always seem that way from our perspective, but when we stop and take a look at it from a different perspective, we can see the wisdom behind it.
Driving
For instance, if I told you that we could prevent the leading cause of death in teenagers tomorrow by making a new law, that would seem like a smart thing to do, wouldn’t it?
Well what if I told you that the leading cause of death in teenagers was driving accidents and to prevent it, the law should be changed to make the legal driving age 20?
If you are a teen, that may not seem like the best answer, when viewed from your perspective, but there seems to be some wisdom in that.
Children
In this series we have been looking at different roles that God has designed and today we are going to look at playing the part of a child.
6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord,
The first thing we see here is that if you are a kid, you need to obey Your Parents.
“Obey! I knew it. That’s all this guy talks about. Sounds just like my parents. Obey! Obey! Obey! Why should I!?”
That is a good question that deserves an answer, don’t you think? As parents, we need to be able to answer these kind of questions for our children. This is how we are going to help them grow and mature. And sometimes, kids, there will be times that you just need to obey. No questions asked. And why is that? Well, I will explain.
The first reason why you should obey is that God said so!
It is Commanded by God
What does Ephesians 6:1 say? Does it say, Kids, if your parents are being nice, then obey? Or does it say kids, if your day has been going well, obey? No, it says
Children, obey your parents in the Lord,
It is a command. Listen, we just saw how God is unbelievably brilliant. He has designed things just the way He wants them to be and the way that works best. He also designed the family and he has given order to the family so that His most spectacular part of creation, the human race (us), those created in His image, can continue to survive and live.
He has designed kids to need their parents to teach them and help them and kids need to take their role and responsibilities seriously because God takes His commands seriously and they are given for a reason. And at reason is simply this; to help you survive.
So you need to obey your parents because God commands us to. A second reason to obey your parents is because God likes it!
It is Pleasing to God
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
(from New International Version)
Whenever we obey what God wants us to do, we please Him. This is our purpose, to bring pleasure an honor and glory to the Lord. God wants us to become more like Jesus and when we please God, we are being more like Jesus.
Jesus says in John 5:30
I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
(from New International Version)
29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
(from New International Version)
Jesus obeyed His Father because it brought pleasure to the Father and that was His purpose. That should be our purpose too, to please God, so we can be more like Christ. So if we are going to do what pleases God, then you need to obey your parents.
Thirdly, You must obey your parents because it’s the right thing to do!
It is the right thing to do
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
He has given parents responsibility over you for your own good. You may not always be able to see how God’s way is good, but that is why we must trust Him. God has given you parents who have more experience in life than you and for those of you who have Christian parents, they have been able to see God’s work and how His ways are best even during times when it is not apparent.
Maybe you are thinking, you don’t know my parents. My parents don’t know anything. My parents only goal in life is to make me miserable. My parents hate me, they won’t let me do anything.
Your Parents Were Kids Too
Listen, Even though it may seem hard to believe, your parents were kids once too. And they made a lot of mistakes. Mistakes that sometimes not only affect your life at a moment in time, but affect your life forever. And they want to help you avoid those mistakes.
We as parents have learned that it is better to stay away from tempting situations, then to try and remain strong in the midst of it
We have learned that there are some situations that you may think will be fun and exciting, but from our own experience, they are not what they seem. We have learned that the younger you are, the less likely that you will be able to be strong enough to stand up under the pressure that comes from your peers. And we love you too much to stand by and watch you make mistakes that could affect your life forever.
Well, parents can make mistakes too. And some parents even abuse their responsibilities. But as children obey God, He will can watch over you and protect you and use those times in your life to work good.
And in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.
God is In Control
Please realize that when God commands something, even when you don’t understand why, obeying God is the right thing to do and it is the best thing to do. So Obey Your Parents because:
- God commands it
- God is pleased by it
- And it is the right thing to do.
Children get a bad rap nowadays because they seem to be rebellious and unwilling to conform to what their authorities tell them to do. However, every son and daughter knows that deep in their heart, they just want to please their mom and dad. And sometimes, it can be hard to do because we don’t understand why our parents would tell us to do or not do certain things.
Whether you have great parents or not so great parents, you do have the best father in the world if you have given your life to Jesus. Our heavenly father! If nothing else, follow His lead and do what He tells you. And what is He is telling you today? Your heavenly father wants you to know that it pleases him for you to obey your parents. In the end, God has a way to work everything out for your good, but you need to do your part and obey God in this one thing.
Now go, and show yourself worthy of being God’s child.
© 2016 MANLY TRAINING
I would be very grateful if you shared this article and website on your Twitter, Facebook, or other social media. You can also follow MANLY TRAINING on:
Find Out More About Manly Training Ministries
You don’t need a Bribe to Join my Tribe… Go ahead, make it official!
Click HERE to visit his author page.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In