Proverbs 23:22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,
    and do not despise your mother when she is old.

This brings to mind the 5^th Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12) As Paul pointed out, this is the only one of the 10 that contains a promise, that of long life in the promised land. (Ephesians 6:1-3) We easily get all confused about the whole matter of parenting. Far too many parents today want to be their children’s friend. That’s a sad mistake. Friends can come and go, but parents are forever. You do need to be loving, but that doesn’t mean giving in to their every whim. Parents need to be a major, or the major, source of stability in their children’s lives. There needs to be consistency: clear, rational boundaries, with consequences for exceeding them. Threats without follow-through are a big no-no. However, the devil goes after children even if they have perfect parents. Their friends will tell them their parents are “too old to understand,” “relics of a previous age.” On some levels there can be some truth to that, but if the foundation of respect has been laid, parents can communicate timeless truth that they may have learned the hard way. God’s truth doesn’t depend on technology or social trends! Children need to remember that their parents too were once children, and so know better what is going on than their children imagine.

As a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, this feels really close to home. Sadly, the Pacific Ocean separates us geographically, but the Internet helps us stay connected. My father’s words generally felt weighty. He was both learned and wise, quite apart from his academic accomplishments. One of my most treasured memories is of talking with him in his study during the brief period we had together in Fukuoka, after I had brought my wife and children to Japan for the first time and before he and my mother left for the US, from which he came back as ashes in a box. Interestingly, I remember my mother as the disciplinarian of the two, though there was never any question that my father was head of the household. She retired and followed us to Texas, where I went to seminary, because we had her only grandchildren. The Lord took her home at 72, just a couple of years or so after my wife, children, and I had arrived in Omura. I don’t think I had much opportunity to despise her! I feel our own children have done well by us, though raising them was certainly not uneventful. God has been very gracious, and I feel I can teach parenting classes with some assurance!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me be a good parent at this point in my life, and a clear channel for You to pour Your grace and truth through me to others, for the lies of the enemy to be countered and Your name glorified. Thank You. Praise God!