The Art of Seeking, Part 8
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The art of seeking the heavenly as children and parents.
Colossians 3:20.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Paul instructs children in the art of seeking the heavenly where Christ is through obedience to their parents.
This command was given by Yahweh to Moses as the first commandment with a promise in Exodus 20:12
12 “Honor your father and mother, in order that it may be well for you and in order that you may be living for a long time upon the good land, which the Lord your God is giving to you.
Yahweh places high value on this command and gives a two-fold promise with it.
First, that it would go well with you in life.
Second, that you would live a long life.
As a child, knowing God’s will is not complicated. God’s will is that you obey your parents.
It is easy to know that you are to obey; it is much harder to actually obey.
There are four truths that will make it easier for you to obey.
The first truth is that in obeying your parents, you are obeying God.
The second truth is that you have a will. You can choose to obey God or the Devil.
The third truth is that your obedience pleases God.
The fourth truth is that you are given the promises of a good and long life if you are obedient to your parents.
So do not believe the lie that disobedience and exercising your freedom is better for you.
When you are tempted to disobey, it is important to think about these truths and allow them to help you choose obedience.
There is one exception with obedience to any human, and that is if they tell you to disobey God. Then you must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).
We now turn our attention to the art of seeking the heavenly as parents, who are represented in Colossians 3:21 by the father.
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Ephesians 6:4 compliments this verse well.
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Parents learn the art of seeking the heavenly where Christ is by not provoking their children.
Parents, what are some ways you provoke your children to anger and discourage them?
Conditional love provokes children to anger and discourages them.
Sarcasm often provokes children to anger and discourages them.
Shaming and guilting provokes children to anger and discourages them.
Not listening well provokes children to anger and discourages them.
Not owning one’s mistakes provokes children to anger and discourages them.
Not showing care and understanding for your child’s emotions or perspective provokes them to anger and discourages them.
The list could go on and on. As parents, you need to identify what provokes your child and cease doing that.
Not only that, but you need to model humility and ask forgiveness when you provoke your child.
Remember, Jesus, in all three of the Synoptic Gospels makes it very clear that our treatment of children is not to be taken lightly (Luke 17:1-2).
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
Parents, the job of parenting is daunting and difficult to do well.
You are modeling a perception of God to your child, either for good or ill.
You are not going to parent perfectly, and if you think you do, then you are deceived.
Since you are not going to parent perfectly, you should strive to parent in humility, being quick to own your mistakes and seek your child’s forgiveness.
True humility does not provoke them to anger or discourage them, but encourages them to walk in the grace of God.
Children, you learned the art of seeking the heavenly where Christ is through obedience to your parents, because it is what God asked you to do.
Parents, you learned the art of seeking the heavenly where Christ is through parenting in humility, thus not provoking your children to anger.
When we, as children and parents, learn the art of seeking the heavenly, we display God’s love to the world.
