05/30/2025
Do you place a bit of your will and self before God when He asks something of you? Do you use such language as "I will but", or "just let me do this first", or perhaps you try to negotiate with Him by saying "what about this?" Do you place your own conditions on following God's will for you? Maybe it's time to just respond as you should have from the start by saying… "here am I."
“Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."”
Luke 9:61-62 ESV
What is Jesus saying in this scripture? He is obviously not talking about an actual plow... this is symbolic of what we do when we have second thoughts about following God's call, or when we try to interject our own logic, reason, desires, or wills, into or before His.
For those of us with children this is so familiar, we might say... "Johnny, clean up your room and then you can go out to play with your friends", only to hear "but Dad, they will be gone by then", or "Mom, what if I promise to come back in and do it before dinner?" Does this sound familiar? Usually, the excuse making continues on for just about as long as it would have taken to do the chore in the first place! This scenario is about children attempting to place their desires before that of their parents... it is a debate about who is in charge, and yes... who actually knows best. When we do this with God he gets just as frustrated with our whining as an earthly parent does.
I remember the relationship my mother had with her parents. My grandfather was a firm man, and there were certain rules that governed his home. They were unyielding and the expectation was that they be followed. My mother followed them to a T, even as an adult. There were a couple of things at play here... first, she honored and respected her parents and knew that there was no hardship placed on her that didn't benefit the family; and secondly she understood that her mother and father were not her playmates, or two of her little friends... they were her PARENTS and had to be obeyed.
Today that family dynamic has changed, and children are not taught to obey without question. Parents have become extensions of their children's group of friends and have abandoned the role of parenthood by not lovingly teaching that there are hard and fast rules in our lives. Even more disturbing is that the concept of honoring your mother and father, and that this is a virtue, has been diminished. As Christians we should know this idea of honoring better than most, and yet, we follow the modern reinvention of what a parent should be. When we do this we are inclined to carry this lack of honor and respect into our faith and into the way we attempt to interact with God. Bad habits are contagious so when we allow our children to treat us as playmates and not parents, and we attempt to treat God in the same way, it can carry on for generations. Is there any wonder that we feel an ebbing in not only our own spiritual lives, but see it spreading around the world?
“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,' but now the Lord declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
1 Samuel 2:30 ESV
We still love our children when they disobey or argue with us, and God still loves us as well, but the joy and pride we have in our children is replaced by disappointment, and as God says the same of us when we don't honor him... we are "lightly esteemed."
So, when God calls our name He isn't acting as a modern day pseudo parent who claims that role simply because He is our creator, no, He is teaching us day and night to honor Him and those around us. He is instructing us in how to behave towards Him, our neighbors, and most certainly... our parents. When we place our wills before His and bicker or negotiate our role in what He has asked us to do then we find that He doesn't tolerate our dishonoring Him. God acts in a fashion that is alien to today's society and family. Unlike the modern axiom that “Rules are made to be broken”, rules are intended to be followed and not meant to be broken, and this is true of God’s will too… it is nonnegotiable.
Jesus said these words, and if you read them carefully you will see that there is an absence of such wording as "wants to", "can", "perhaps", "companion", and "like". Here is how the scripture actually reads....
“If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
John 12:26 ESV
It does not say “if anyone wants to serve me, he can follow me; and perhaps where I am, there will my companion be also. If anyone works with me on this, the Father just might like Him."
How do you read the word of God? How do you answer Him when He calls, and how do you teach your children to respond to your authority? Do you think that there just might be a link between how we treat our parents, families, neighbors, and the world, with how we behave towards God and adhere to the commandment to honor them? If you won't listen to God's Word, then just maybe you will listen to something more worldly... like the lyrics of a well-known song by Cosby, Stills, Nash, and Young… “Teach Your Children” …
"Teach your children well, their father’s hell did slowly go by" – Cosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Prayer:
Father, thank you for being much more than just my friend. Thank you, Lord, for being my Holy Father who instructs me in responsibility, honor, obedience, and love. Teach me Father to obey you out of love, and honor you for who you are. Help me to be a good parent that isn't a peer and a playmate, but a teacher and rabbi to my children. Help me Dear Lord to teach them well so that when you call them they will know how to properly respond to you. Help me instruct them in love, rather than arbitrary discipline, and help me to be a man that they will honor... and who demonstrates how to they are to honor you. Let my answer to your call be a simple one, "Here am I" and not "In a minute!" In this way help me contribute to your giving them long and prosperous lives. Hear me as I honor you in my life and prayer by saying Hallelujah and Amen!
Hallelujah, Amen!
Supporting Scripture:
““Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:2-5 ESV
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
Exodus 20:12 ESV
“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
Deuteronomy 5:16 ESV
Rich Forbes