Father’s Day Edition
For the next several weeks, we will have guest authors for our Words for Wednesday. Today our guest author is Ruth Sorrell. Enjoy!
Words for Wednesday, Father’s Day Edition
This weekend we celebrate Father’s Day. If you have forgotten, there is still time to buy a gift, get your card in the mail or maybe make a dinner reservation.
Many in our congregation care for their aging parents as I am. I realize that I am totally blessed to have healthy 90+ year old parents that manage quite nicely living in their own home. However, there are things they need help with or no longer should be doing, i.e. driving, even in rural Kentucky, so my brothers and I are staying with them until their needs change.
Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Our parent/child relationship on earth should reflect the Father/Son relationship in heaven. There are numerous verses in the Bible addressing these relationships. Notably beginning with the fifth commandment to honor your father and mother so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on earth.
Enjoying a long life on earth requires assistance, notably at both the beginning and at the end. Who is best suited to provide that assistance? Initially, the caretaking falls on the parents but later that shifts to the children you were blessed with in your youth.
Children indeed are a blessing from the Lord. However, raising children well is the hardest job on earth and requires numerous sacrifices on behalf of the parents. Sacrifices of both time and money. “…Children and grandchildren are to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family, and repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.” 1 Timothy 5:4. Later, the tables do get turned as children care for their parents. Sacrifices of both time and money occur again, and it is pleasing to the Lord.
It is said no one comes to the end of their life and wishes they had spent more time at the office; they wish they had spent more time with their loved ones. I believe that is the heart of the matter in Harrison Butker’s commencement speech that caused waves in the media in May. The Kansas City Chiefs place kicker and I share an alma mater so maybe I spent more time than most reflecting on his words. A line from his speech not quoted in the media, “Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways, by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God’s Church continues and the world is enlightened by your example.”
Having children and caring for our family, including our aging parents, is a small way to live in the eyes of the world. But is there any better way to leave a lasting mark for this and future generations than by living in accordance with God’s Word?
These are your words for Wednesday!
iLove you,
Ruth
Words for Wednesday, Father’s Day Edition
This weekend we celebrate Father’s Day. If you have forgotten, there is still time to buy a gift, get your card in the mail or maybe make a dinner reservation.
Many in our congregation care for their aging parents as I am. I realize that I am totally blessed to have healthy 90+ year old parents that manage quite nicely living in their own home. However, there are things they need help with or no longer should be doing, i.e. driving, even in rural Kentucky, so my brothers and I are staying with them until their needs change.
Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Our parent/child relationship on earth should reflect the Father/Son relationship in heaven. There are numerous verses in the Bible addressing these relationships. Notably beginning with the fifth commandment to honor your father and mother so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on earth.
Enjoying a long life on earth requires assistance, notably at both the beginning and at the end. Who is best suited to provide that assistance? Initially, the caretaking falls on the parents but later that shifts to the children you were blessed with in your youth.
Children indeed are a blessing from the Lord. However, raising children well is the hardest job on earth and requires numerous sacrifices on behalf of the parents. Sacrifices of both time and money. “…Children and grandchildren are to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family, and repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.” 1 Timothy 5:4. Later, the tables do get turned as children care for their parents. Sacrifices of both time and money occur again, and it is pleasing to the Lord.
It is said no one comes to the end of their life and wishes they had spent more time at the office; they wish they had spent more time with their loved ones. I believe that is the heart of the matter in Harrison Butker’s commencement speech that caused waves in the media in May. The Kansas City Chiefs place kicker and I share an alma mater so maybe I spent more time than most reflecting on his words. A line from his speech not quoted in the media, “Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways, by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God’s Church continues and the world is enlightened by your example.”
Having children and caring for our family, including our aging parents, is a small way to live in the eyes of the world. But is there any better way to leave a lasting mark for this and future generations than by living in accordance with God’s Word?
These are your words for Wednesday!
iLove you,
Ruth
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