As a father/parent, I have a duty to upbringing of my boys. God entrusted me to raise them in His likeness and to lead them to Him.
“4Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” – Ephesians 6:4 (ESV)
Paul writes to the parents at Ephesus to remind them of the duty of raising their children. I points out that as fathers, they are to make sure that the children are instructed to follow the discipline of Christ as they progress through this world.
I know that as that father/parent, I struggle with the proper approach to raising my boys and I can only have faith that they will demonstrate the love of God as they grow into adulthood and strike out on their own. I have done my level best to get them to this point and have to believe that what they took away will continue to lead them in the path that God has in store for them.
Paul did not just write to the parents of Ephesus, or rather to me, he also directed words and instruction to the children.
“1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” – Ephesians 6:1 (ESV)
I think that a good number of us have heard and/or used the first 4 words in verse 1 above, I know that I have. And Paul is correct in that children are to obey their parents as the immediate authority in their lives when they are growing up. But, the next 3 words are where the real work is done and I suspect that they are overlooked a good percentage of the time.
In verse 4 of the same passage, Paul writes as to the “instruction of the Lord”. And here in verse 1 he writes “in the Lord”. I am sure that those 3 words from verse 1 are not at the top of mind when children are hearing from their parents at the point of learning and growing. I know that even I as a child and parent have not always been looking for God at every turn of the parental/child life cycle. I should be/have been.
I know now and knew then that my mother is a God fearing woman and I believe that my boys know that of me as well. I have to admit that I was and still am a man and am blinded by the idea that I am the one in charge in my home and that everyone should be listening to me. What I have to go back to is that I am not in charge and that everything I have or am has been provided by God, and for that He deserves my obedience.
With my obedience to the Lord and when I am instructing my boys in the discipline of the Lord, I have satisfied my duty here in this world. I can now leave the learning and growing to my boys and I must have faith that when they need something, they will come to me and I will be able to lead them to Christ where they will be able to find all of the answers.
When you were a child or even as a parent, where did you lean for instruction and discipline? Where you able to look at situations in the interest of finding the answers in and of the Lord? Are you looking to be obedient to the Lord and live with the instructions He provides?
Trevor's Thoughts 