May

This is a verse that Pastor read/referred to in his sermon this past week and Dad pointed it out to me and asked why this didn't apply to you. I didn't have an answer at the time, but I'm thinking about it.

Ephesians 6:1-3:  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honour your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:  "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."

The first word that stands out to me is the word "may." I looked this up recently linked to the name of a song, Come What May. May is a wish or a hope. The verse doesn't say you "will" live long on the earth. I think that obeying your parents/honoring your father and mother definitely increase your chances of making it through childhood alive and into adulthood and beyond, but it's obviously not a guarantee.

An example that often comes to mind is if a child goes to cross the street and listens to their parent who tells them it's not safe or to look both ways. I don't really have to go into the value of a child obeying their parent in general.

But that doesn't mean that all "good", obedient children will live a long life. What about children who are stillborn? They never had a chance to obey or to not obey their parents, or infants, toddlers, etc. God has a master plan that transcends all else-to increase His kingdom. Everything else falls under that.

Plus, all children disobey their parents at some point because we are all sinners. So the opposite of that is why do children stay alive or have a long life when they don't obey their parents which happens constantly. There wouldn't be any children!

I don't really know where I'm going with this, but the Bible has general principles and some we have to consider what it's really saying and how that applies in life. The Bible doesn't specifically say, "don't smoke" but that is something that Christians should know is a bad thing to do, for example.

Like everything else, we have to trust God on this one. He wouldn't give a promise He couldn't keep. He must have meant something else by this, or no obedient children would die young. God said it, I believe it, that's all there is to it! Praise His Holy Name! Love you boy!

Just realized something else-this verse is directed to children. It explains obedience to them in terms that they can understand, that obeying their parents will benefit them overall, that it's not a punishment or anything -that there is no purpose to it. Not that we need a reason to obey God, we just need to do it but God still chooses to explain things to us as His children. He knows that actual children need this extra little explanation and promise. I'm going to look up the definition of promise really quick. It doesn't say "you shall live long on the earth or even you will live long on the earth. It says you may live long on the earth. Amen!

Definition of promise: (as a noun), a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen. This made me think to compare this promise to other promises in the Bible and the wording. The promise of the rainbow came to mind first, so I looked up how that is worded in Genesis 9:11:  Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." Those are strong words: never again. Much stronger and different meaning than the word may.

You almost have to look at it like you have the answer already and that you have to make the equation fit the answer, like Carter's math worksheet the other night: God made a promise that if children obey their parents that they may live long on the earth. Children still die young. God doesn't give promises that He can't keep, so there must be more to it than we are understanding. I still think that a lot of it hinges on the word, "may".