Honor your father and mother
Exodus 20:12
Monday, March 28, 2022
There are many ways to please God. The commandments God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai in this book and chapter of the Old Testament condense down to the two primary commandments Jesus describes in Matthew 22:37 - 40: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
As a child, I saw the Ten Commandments as a terrifying potential minefield of ways I could displease God rather than as a gentle guide for pleasing Him. The majority of His laws must have made a lasting impact on me, as I can look back on my life now and say that I’ve tried — and mostly succeeded — to live a righteous life.
Also looking back on my early life, I know that like most teenagers, I didn’t exactly “get” the Fifth Commandment listed below. While I didn’t do anything to bring my parents lasting shame, I also didn’t give them the honor and respect that they deserved.
That was then…
When my parents grew elderly, God’s law impressed on my heart that I needed to do everything I could to take care of them. With God’s help, I saw both my father and mother through some tough final years and their eventual deaths and realized that by honoring my parents, I was honoring God.
“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Exodus 20:12 NLT
Photo by Mike Scheid on Unsplash
