Obey Your Parents

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
~Colossians 3:20

It's a different world than the one I was raised in. When I was growing up there were rules and we followed them. There was no doubt about what would happen if we disobeyed mama or daddy. And I raised my children to obey and to follow the rules, and to hopefully become good citizens of the world. But things are no longer that way. Daily, we see parents and children who are at odds. We see parents who say they cannot control their children. We see children who are arrested for violent crimes at very early ages. We see more and more children being introduced to the penal system. We see teen pregnancy on the rise, teen drug abuse, teen violence, and more teens totally out of control. And these are the future adults of the world.

What has happened to our children? The same thing that has happened to the adults in this world. We took God out of the homes, we took God out of the workplace, we took God out of the schools, we took God out of the government, and now we are living with those dire results.

We are incapable of governing ourselves, our land, or our children without the word of God. An ungodly government leads to ungodly citizens. Human beings were never meant to live apart from God. We were created in God's image as part of His grand plan. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they brought sin to all future generations. Unable to cope with the sin problem, God sent us the solution -- Jesus Christ.

Whether or not we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior has no bearing on the fact that He is there for us. If we want to see our land healed, our families healed, our children under control, our marriages healed, and our lives on track the way God intended them to be, we have no choice but to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Ephesians 6:1-3 says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 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."

The promise of a good life begins in childhood. We must have godly parents to raise godly children. And if we are going to have any hope for peace, and a future for our grandchildren, we must all turn to God so that He can heal our land.

"...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14)."