Daily Devotional Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in
the Bible.
The Wisdom of God
Verses for the Day:
Proverbs
30:17 (KJV): 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.
Proverbs
30:17 (AMP): The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother, the ravens
of the valley will pick it out, and the young vultures will devour it.
Thoughts for the Day:
This verse
from Proverbs tells us the penalty for mocking,
scorning and disobeying our parents is death. The ravens and vultures are
scavengers who come after something dies, to pick the flesh off the bones of the
dead body. The Bible stresses that children are to respect and obey their
parents, throughout its pages. It is so important to God, that it is
included in the list of the "Ten Commandments" that Moses delivered to the
Israelites.
Exodus 20:12:
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee.
To a certain extent, God wants us to
treat our parents the way that we are to treat Him, in that we are to
bring honor to His name with our actions and words; so we should also
honor our parents in the same manner. This commandment regarding
our parents is also repeated in the New Testament.
Ephesians 6:1-3:
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with
promise;
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
That promise is that we will have a long life, if we will respect our
parents. This promise may sound vague and general, but there is an
immediate application to it, especially in the lives of children. If
children obey their parents, it can literally save their lives. Take,
for instance, a little child who disregards his parent's warning to look
both ways before crossing a street. He may very easily get run over by a
car, His life can
be cut short because of a simple act of disobedience. It really is true
that disobedient children have a greater chance of not living long. The
quality of their life may also be diminished because of rebellion. The
Lord says that children should be trained to continually honor and
esteem their parents. We are to also instill a respect in our children
for all of those in authority, such as policemen, school officials,
church elders, etc.
If a child does not have a sense of
respect for their parents, he or she will often have a harder time
respecting other authority figures, as well. I believe that this verse
refers to more than just our biological parents, although it certainly
is the first application we will want to make with this commandment.
However, we see in Ephesians that God is saying that we must also
obey our "parents in the Lord." Therefore, this verse also refers
to the elders within the church.
All of the "Ten Commandments" deal with
rebellion in one way or another. Ultimately, it is rebellion that keeps
us from obeying them. We cannot love God with all of our heart, when
there is rebellion in our heart. No matter which commandment He requires
of us, He wants us to be submissive to Him and obey Him, trusting that
He knows what is best for us.
and that is why it is so important that we
learn submission to our parents and elders. If we fail to obey, then it
reveals rebellion in us, and then the Lord must deal with an attitude
problem in us.
God dealt very strongly with rebellious
children in the Old Testament. The penalty for not honoring one’s
parents was being stoned to death. It had the same penalty as adultery
and murder. It was a serious offense before God. Rebellion against
parents was a worse sin than stealing.
And he that smiteth his father, or his
mother, shall be surely put to death... And he that curseth his father,
or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
The word for "curseth" in the above
verse, is "qalal." It means "to make light of, bring into
contempt or despise." It is a serious offense to God, to hatefully
belittle or mock one’s parents. Even if there is not much about them
that demands our respect, we must refrain from speaking reviling words
against them. This is especially important for young people to
understand. Don't speak evil of your parents! The penalty for such talk
is death in the Old Testament. It is a serious offense in God's eyes to
do that. We are to speak honorably towards our parents, and bless them.
These verses sound extreme to our modern
ears, but I personally believe that it would do us good as a society to
impose stricter punishment upon crime, from an early age up. This will
work for everyone’s good. We are so lenient on rebellion, and even
glamorize it, thus encouraging young people to break the commandments of
God. If children are raised, however, to follow the rules of their
parents and of God, their lives will be so much easier on every level.
Prayer for the Day:
I
honor You as my Heavenly Father and gladly submit unto You, trusting You in all
things. Please remove any trace of rebellion from my heart. I also honor
my natural parents and my spiritual parents. Lord, I desire to always be
respectful to the church elders and the authorities that You have designated in
the earth. Deliver me from any anger against those in authority, and if I have
been wronged by any of them, I am trusting that You will deal with them in the
proper fashion. I want to have a heart that is submissive and trusting and
free from all rebellion. I humbly ask this in the wonderful name of Jesus.
Amen.
