OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL-SATURDAY-13/02/2016-FULFILLING GOD’S PURPOSE IV -BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
Memorise
And, ye fathers,
provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them
Up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
Read
Genesis 18:17-19,
17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham
that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in
him?
19 For I know him, that he will command his
children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that
the Lord may bring upon Abraham
that which he hath spoken of him.
KJV
MESSAGE
The Bible declared the father as the head of
the home – head of the mother and the children. As such, fathers have complete
authority within the household to direct the affairs of The family, and to
administer discipline when necessary. However, Apostle Paul admonishes that
fathers should handle authority over their children with care; they are to be
careful not to provoke their children to wrath. Some fathers are guilty of
using their authority unreasonably in ways that cause their children to harbour
resentment. However, fathers have the responsibility to bring their children up
in the way of the Lord. In many cultures today, parents have submitted and
completely relinquished their God given responsibility to raise godly children
to school teachers, Sunday schools teachers, pastors, or governmental
institutions. Every Christian parent should know that God will hold them
responsible for the success or failure of their wards. Children are God’s
heritage, we have an awesome responsibility and authority over them, we are
responsible for them before God, and we will surely render our account to God
over them.
Are there any particular reason(s) why
parents, particularly fathers, are called by God to play such a crucial, God
ordained role in the upbringing or discipleship of their children?
Ephesians 6:1-4 given us a clue.
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord:
for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment
with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the
earth. And, ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord”.
God knows that from childhood, little
children gradually learn to love and trust their parents because of the
relationship they have. Children normally grow up to receive love and care from
their parents in the form of feeding, clothing, washing, and protection from
cold and other harmful circumstances. Therefore children naturally gravitate
towards their parents. For the same reasons, children are more likely to learn
the ways and manners of their parents by default. Most children would choose to
learn from their parents because parents are the first heroes’ children. God in
His wisdom is fully aware of these factors; He therefore designed the family to
take advantage of the opportunity provided by nature.
The Bible
provides a very good balance here; children are to obey their parents, while
parents are to treat their children with respect so that they will obey them
without coercion. God expects children to obey their parents for Christ’s sake,
even if their parents are not believers. Also, children should not commit any
sinful act just because their parents command them to. When faced with a choice
between the two, children must obey God rather than man.
Prayer Point
Father, please make me a successful parent; don’t let me fail you over my
children.
Bible in one year
Mark 14:43-16:8, Job 21:1-16
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