What Pleases God - PART 2

What Pleases God (John 8:29) PART 2

John 8:29, And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

The second mention of what is well pleasing unto the Lord is found in Colossians 3:20.

1. Obedient Children. (Colossians 3:20).
Colossians 3:20, Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

Children must be taught while they’re young. The English poet Samuel Coleridge talked with a man who did not believe that children should be given any religious instruction at all. This man claimed that the child’s mind should not be prejudiced in any direction, and when he became older he should be permitted to choose his religious opinions for himself. Coleridge said nothing; but after a while he asked his visitor if he would like to see his garden. The man said he would, and Coleridge took him out into the garden, where only weeds were growing. The man looked at Coleridge in surprise, and said, “Why this is not a garden! There is nothing but weeds here!” “Well, you see,” answered Coleridge, “I did not wish to infringe upon the liberty of the garden in any way, I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself and to choose its own production.”

Obedient children not only please the Lord, but they are “well pleasing” unto the Lord. Children should obey their parents in all things, not just those things that they enjoy doing. Obedience is the major requirement of children. Parents are to rule the children. Society wants it the other way around, but the authority for the Christian home is the Bible not culture. It is the commands of Scripture that should guide the believer in governing the family.

Children are to be submissive and obey their parents in all things in order to please the Lord. Well pleasing unto the Lord is the blessed result of obedience to one's parents. The word "obey" means to heed, hearken, comply, and follow the directions or instructions of some guide. The Lord has one primary objective for the child: to prepare the child to be the most balanced and productive adult he or she can be. When the child obeys their parent, the Lord sees the child being disciplined and controlled; He sees the child preparing themself to become a strong adult. As a result, the child's obedience pleases the Lord. By choosing to honor our parents on earth; we honor our Father in Heaven.

Children should obey parents for three reasons:
(1) Obedience is a partial fulfillment of the Fifth Commandment.
(2) Obedience is well-pleasing to God.
(3) Obedience is basic to obedience in other areas.

Our parents are the first form of authority we recognize in our lives. As we grow older, we see God as the supreme authority. If children are not taught respect for parental authority in their early years, they will in later years have no respect for civil, religious, or divine authority. If you want to please the Lord, then be obedient unto your parents. How we obey our parents is often how we obey the Lord. When we disobey our parents, we are displeasing the Lord. Although Jesus, when He was a child, knew far more than His parents, He still obeyed them.

Exodus 20:12, Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. This is a universal command for all people. We never outgrow this command. It’s an eternal, Biblical principle. Regardless of your parents’ success rating, God commands all of His people to honor their father and their mother.

Honoring your parents is an attitude accompanied by the action of communicating to your parents. You have value. You are worthy of my respect. You are the person God sovereignly placed in my life. You may have failed me or hurt me, but I choose to see you with compassion as a person with needs and scars of your own. When you honor your parents, you sincerely identify what your parents did right and honor your parents for those specific things.

A few examples of how you can honor your parents:
· Choosing to place high value upon your relationship with them, knowing that it matters to God.
· Taking the initiative to improve the relationship in whatever steps you can. In the stubborn combination of love and pride in families, you can’t wait for your parents to go first. As the follower of Jesus Christ, you go first.
· Recognizing that they have done some things right. Even if your perspective is clouded by great pain, you can find something your parents did right.
· Acknowledging the sacrifices they’ve made for you.
· Seeing them as Christ does, through a lens of mercy. Our parents are vulnerable human beings who can also be hurt.
· Forgiving them, even as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Help me to see my parents through Your lens of mercy. Show me specific things they did for me. I choose to honor them and communicate that to them. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray, amen.

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