HONORING PARENTS AND THE LORD’S DAY

Lev. 19:3 “Each of you must show respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest, for I, the LORD, am your God.” NLT

Although we are living in grace and not under the law, I believe there are two very important truths here we need to pay heed to. It is always a good thing to show respect to our parents, and it’s always good to observe the Lord’s Day.

Now, I know that there are many parents who have not left their children much, if anything, to respect them for. This is a general guiding principle that can be applied to those children who have had good parents. How might we respect our parents? We can ask ourselves, “Do we bring shame or favor to the family name? Are we living in such a way that it would make them proud? Do we treat them well? As they get older and no longer are able to take care of themselves, do we stay involved in their lives? Do we visit and pay attention to them, no matter how much or little they may know or appreciate it?” Respecting one’s parents means that we treat them as people worthy of our love and affections.

Observing the Lord’s Day is going to vary in application, but I still believe that we need to set aside a day in our week whereby we can focus our attention and energy on the Lord. I don’t believe that we need to be legalistic about it, but certainly, there has to be more that we can do than what is being done in most Christians’ lives these days. It seems to me like we no longer consider the Lord’s Day sacred. We have gotten the idea that as long as we attend church, we can do whatever we want with the rest of the day, no matter how strenuous it may be on us. The Lord calls His day a day of rest for a reason. It is no wonder why so many of us are so stressed out and have health problems.

Also, I believe that the Lord withholds the blessings He wants to bestow on us when we treat His day as just another ordinary day. How we act on the Lord’s Day is a good indicator of how much we respect the Lord. It is good to do good on the Lord’s Day, but it is not good to do good to the point where our bodies, minds, and souls do not get refreshed and prepared for the new week.

The Lord does not give us His Word just to hear himself talk. It is for our benefit and the honor of His name that He gives us His Word. Wise is he who hears and listens to what the Lord is saying. We must learn how to respect our parents and the Lord’s Day. To do anything less is sin.