(Prov 6:20 NIV) My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
This morning a share a special message. Last week my oldest son graduated from High School. Yesterday, on Father’s Day, my wife and I dropped him off a college. As we prayed over him and released him I fought hard to hold back the emotions, but I lost the battle. We pour so much into our children that we simply want to see them succeed. This is a Godly desire. The Bible is a book about family. When we are Born-Again we enter into that family and the Father wants the Family Blessing to be upon us and for us to pass it on to our children; as a form of legacy.
When God blessed Abraham and Abraham’s seed, He wanted THE BLESSING to flow from generation to generation to generation. If you read the Bible you realize that Abraham started from scratch with God, but his son Isaac did not have to. Isaac received a legacy of righteousness from his father, so he was able to start at a greater level in life. It was the same with Isaac’s son Jacob and with his twelve boys (the leaders of the 12 tribes). God is a God of progression, not regression, and He desires that our children have the advantage of tapping into everything that we have learned from Him and about Him, in addition to what they learn on their own. In other words, my children have access to everything I have learned in God, with God, and about God. I freely teach them what I know and they can couple that with what they learn themselves. This gives them an advantage in life.
Later on in Proverbs, Solomon said, “A good man leaves an inheritance [of moral stability and goodness] to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner [finds its way eventually] into the hands of the righteous, for whom it was laid up.” (Prov 13:22 AMP). Did you get that? We are supposed to leave a legacy that will affect our children’s children. That’s our part. That’s our Godly mandate. But in our text Solomon talks about the other side of the equation. He tells sons (gender non-specific) what their role is with their fathers. Children are not to forsake the Godly wisdom of their parents. Paul explained this well in letter to the church at Ephesus, when he said, “Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, “So you will live well and have a long life” (Ephesians 6:1-3 MSG). As children, obeying our parents opens us to the Blessing of God – so we can live long and strong!
So what does this mean to you today? To parents is means that our role as Godly leaders in the home is about development, not dictatorship! We are here to develop our children in the way of the Lord, not to Lord over them. Our focus must be to empower them to maximize their potential, in the earth. And to children it means that we should submit to the authority and wisdom of our parents. They have a mandate from God to pour into us. When we fight against them, we are coming up against God. Allow God to bless you through your parents and you will be much further along than those that attempt to do it on their own.
Confession for today: Father, as I child, I declare, that I receive Godly instruction from my parents. I don’t fight against them. I receive what You want to say to me through them. I allow You, Father, to minister to me through my parents and I thank You for using them for Your glory. As a parent, I declare, that I release into my children all that You have poured into me. They will not have to start where I started. I want better for my children and I thank You for being a God that transfers the Blessing to the second and third generation. My children and my children’s children shall be blessed because of the anointing upon my life! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
