Exodus 20:12 (NIV)
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Ephesians 6:1-2 (NIV)
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.
After Sunday service on 27 January 2019, I left the church and walk to the nearby MRT station (train station) to get a train. As I walk to the footsteps before the escalator, I saw a few people talking to an elderly woman, she seems to be asking them for direction and I ask them what is she looking for. They told me she is looking to buy newspapers and she told me she is looking to buy English newspapers. I find it a bit strange that she is buying English papers as she is elderly and doesn’t speak or understand English. We communicate in Hokkien and Chinese. I told her I will bring her to the train station 24hrs outlet store, should be able to get the English newspapers from there. At the store, she seems a bit lost and not sure where her purse was. She search for the purse. I was thinking of paying for the papers. She managed to find her purse and paid for the newspapers. We left the store and I ask her where she is heading to she told me need to take bus back home. I start to think who ask her to buy the English newspapers? Her children or her grandchildren? Why didn’t the children or grand children go and buy the English newspapers by themselves? Why let their mother/grand-mother who doesn’t know where to buy English newspapers get for them? She don’t even recognize the newspaper is English, the store assistant and I have to told her this is English newspapers. How can they be so irresponsible and not honor their mum/grand-mother? This incident makes me think of what God has commanded us to do “Honor our father and mother”.
Prayer
Dearest Heavenly Father, help us to remember your word to honor and obey our father and mother. Let us not take our parents for granted. Help us to be able to show our love and gratitude to them. Dear Lord, please touch upon everyone’s heart to honor, love and obey our parents. Especially to those who hate their parents, who take their parents like servants not respecting them ill-treating them. Help them to repent and turn their ways to love their parents and care for them. Help them to remember their parents have raised them up since they are a baby. Help them to remember their parents love. Help them to also able to hear, read and understand your word and obey them.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.