Proverbs 1:8-9 (New Living Translation)
Listen, my child, to what
your father teaches you. Don’t neglect
your mother’s teaching. What you learn
from them will crown you with grace and clothe you with honour.
I regularly thank God in my
prayers for the parents he gave me.
Apart from a slight ‘blip’ during my teenage years where the
relationship between my mother and I occasionally verged on the ‘tempestuous’,
I had a great relationship with my parents, and I miss them to this day.
There’s loads of things I
would love to have asked them now that didn’t even cross my mind when they were
around. Maybe the curiosity within us
all grows with age. I have precious memories of time spent with them and I don’t
mean things like getting taken abroad on holiday, going to Disney, going for
runs in the car, being given extravagant presents at Christmas time or being
handed lots of pocket money because none of that ever happened.
When I think of teaching, I
think of the formality of a classroom where a qualified man or woman tells me
things I should remember about a variety of subjects and at some point, it is
put to the test whether I have been paying attention, or not.
The education we receive from
parents isn’t like this. It is more a
case of gradually absorbing skills, behaviours and abilities by watching them,
following their example and copying them.
This leads to saying the things they say and doing the things they do
and treating others in the way they did.
I am well aware that not
everyone has the same parental experiences.
Sometimes one or both parents are not around due to work commitments or
some other reason and the teaching that is usually received from parents may
instead come from a grandparent, an adoptive parent or even a child minder. I am also aware that some parents do not
always set the best example for their children, some have what is described
these days as ‘chaotic lifestyles’ with their children missing out on proper
parental teaching as a result. We need
to include families like this regularly in our prayers.
No doubt there are times when
caring parents get things wrong but none of this exists in the memories, I have
of mine. There was no misdemeanour that
I committed that was not entirely forgiven.
When reflecting today on some of my experiences and I’m sure you will
all have similar, the thing they taught us over and above all else, was quite
simply, love.
Similarly, we read about our
heavenly father in Hebrews 10:16-17, ‘This is the new covenant I will make with
my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts so
they will understand them, and I will write them on their minds so they will
obey them’ then he adds, ‘I will never again remember their sins and lawless
deeds’.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the
love we experience from our parents, and we pray for those children who never
come close to experiencing this type of love. We pray that in these modern days with so many
worldly distractions that you will find a way of giving young folks the desire
and opportunity of getting to know you.
We pray for parents of all ages and Lord, we would pray that you would
come into their hearts and give them the ability and wisdom to live their lives
in ways that are a sound example for their children to follow. Amen
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