The first commandment with a promise

“Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. (Eph. 6:1-4)

Obey and honor your parents

When my children were little, and when the situation warranted it, I would remind them that the Bible says, “Children, obey your parents because it is the right thing to do.” And this always seemed to work pretty well most of the time until my oldest son, Matthew, who had apparently started reading the Bible for himself, answered back one day with, “Yes, it does say that, Dad, but if you read a little further, it also says, ‘Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.’ And dad, you are provoking me.”

After he said that, I told him that if he would continue to read even a bit further, the Bible also says to “bring them up with discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.” And that meant I was commanded by the Lord to use discipline and instruction to bring him up properly. I also told him that that command also had a promise attached to it: that if he honored his father, things would go well for him and he would live a long time; but if he didn’t, it would be just the opposite for him.

I smile when I remember some of our old conversations from so many years ago, especially now that he’s an adult himself, and has grown children of his own. I enjoy overhearing him say the same things to them on occasion.

Some verses about love and obedience

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 ESV)

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3 ESV)

 Therefore

“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” (John 14:23 ESV)