“Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” Proverbs 23:22
Paul’s second book to Timothy presents some thoughtful insights on conditions in the last days. He predicts that people will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, [and] lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (3:2-4). After hearing that list, most of us would want to jump up and shout, “Amen!” It certainly wouldn’t take long to cite examples for each of these transgressions. Yet isn’t it interesting when we realize that these words were written nearly two thousand years ago.
Paul’s list includes one expression that is worth noting: “disobedient to their parents” (3:2). According to the insight given by the Holy Spirit, Paul listed such disobedience as a sign of the last days. Might Paul have been writing about days such as we live in today? Would you agree that parental control, along with the dissolution of the family, is of prime concern today?
It is always comforting to know that in many of our Christian households, respect for parents and children is still possible. Certainly there are those homes that include rebellious children who break the hearts of their faithful parents. Sin is never far away in any Christian home. Yet every parent will agree that the challenge in bringing up God-fearing children is enormous! Satan is relentless in his effort to tear the Christian family apart.
As with so many other areas of our lives, God’s Word provides insight into dealing with parent-child relationships. There are positive examples such as Abraham and Isaac, where there was a strong love relationship, as well as Timothy whose mother and grandmother worked tirelessly instructing the young man. Another pair to note is Jesse and David. Jesse (“firm”) was the son of Obed and grandson of Ruth and Boaz. He raised his family of eight sons (of whom David was the youngest) and two daughters in the town of Bethlehem. When the Israelites were at war with the Philistines, Jesse would send young David to take provisions to his older brothers who served in the army. After killing the giant, David was asked by Saul, “Whose son are you, young man? . . . David said, ‘I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem’” (1 Samuel 17:58). Two verses later we read, “Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house” (18:2). As we read further, we discover the deterioration of the relationship between Saul and David, reaching a point of Saul’s pure contempt and hatred for David. His jealousy reached to a point that caused him to attempt to kill David.
On the run for his life, David gathered his small army and escaped to the cave of Adullam, located only 2 miles from David’s victory over Goliath and about 13 miles from Bethlehem. Here we learn that not only was his life in danger but also the lives of his family. “When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there” (22:1). David lovingly cared for his aging parents and gave them protection. “From there David went to Mizpah in Moab [his grandmother Ruth’s former homeland] and said to the king of Moab, ‘Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?’” (22:3). So the king of Moab kept David’s parents safe from Saul. (It is interesting that the term “son of Jesse” at first was used derisively against David; however, it came to be an honored title, and the “root of Jesse” became a symbol for the Messiah.)
What a perfect example of respect, care, and concern between parents and children. Such love indeed brings honor to the Lord. “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised” (Song of Solomon 8:7 ESV).
Prayer thought: Pray for harmony in your family today.
Recent Comments