Title: Live, Obey and Respect!
Contents
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1. Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD and walks in his way.
2. You shall eat according to the toil of your hands, and you shall be blessed and prosper.
3. Your wife in the inner chamber of your house will be like a fruitful vine, and your children around your table will be like young olive trees.
4. Those who fear the LORD will thus be blessed.
5. May the LORD bless you in Zion; you shall see the blessings of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6. Behold your children, peace be with Israel.
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1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2. Honor your father and mother, for this is the first commandment with promise.
3. For it may be well with you, and you will live long on the earth.
4. Also, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
Content
Title: Live, Obey and Respect!
Text: Psalm 128:1-6, Ephesians 6:1-4
On Mother's Day, I often think about 'how should I preach?' rather than 'what should I preach?'. Because of opportunities that have already been missed. Because filial piety is not as easy as it sounds. I can't say anything else though. It is because God is afraid. There is a promise in respecting parents, but why not in raising children? Isn't it because there is nothing left in a parent's life except for their children? ‘When a child is born, the parents lose their heart to the child. Because all the hearts are directed only toward the children. So the parents' hearts are empty. It is up to the children to fill this empty heart.’ The roles of mothers and fathers are the greatest and best roles God has given them. The role of children to fill the hearts of parents who are empty because of their children is also a sacred part. That day itself is a blessing and happiness.
1. If you want your children as well as yourself to do well, you must honor your parents. It reminds me of a family where three generations live together. One becomes the root of a tree, the second becomes a tree nest, and the third becomes a branch. Where should manure be applied in order to become a strong tree and to ripen the fruit it bears lusciously? Side fertilization is given as needed, but it should be applied to the root. It is to fill the empty hearts of elderly parents. Just like the natural order provided by the Creator, there is an order of grace in receiving God's promised blessings. It is obedience and respect for the parents. The “first commandment with a promise” is the best of the promises of blessing. The result is ‘prosperity and long life on earth’ (Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians 6:1-3). When parents obey their words and will, their hearts are filled (Noah, Isaac, Ruth, Jesus). It is filled when we honor according to the word of God.
2. It is the role of a mother entrusted to you by God. These are reminiscent of the saying, “A mother is the best gift from God.” “The role of a good mother is better than a hundred teachers.” 'No devil can take a child away from a mother who prays.' You are the best investor who generously invests for the future of your child, the best trainer who makes lifelong habits for your children, the lover you remember when you are tired and lonely, and a loving companion who is with you with unchanging love anytime, anywhere. What can I fill my empty chest with? Fear the Lord and walk in His Way (Psalm 128:1-2). It is filial piety based on faith.
3. I think of Enoch, who made God happy, and I think of the role of a father. “Enoch was sixty-five years old when he begot Methuselah, and after he begot Methuselah, he walked with God three hundred years, and had children, and he lived three hundred and sixty-five years” (Genesis 5:21-23). Among the descendants of Adam, there are some that are different from others. ‘Walking with God’. He was the only one taken without seeing death. The writer of Hebrews tells us that he was “a man who lived by faith pleasing to God” (Hebrews 11:5). ‘Father is the front line of the family’ - The family follows every path he takes, and he is affected without realizing it. ‘Home Guard (衛兵)’ When the father collapses, the children collapse, and the whole family loses its center. ‘Household Guards’-Children who are not loved by their fathers become destitute.