Day 262
Isaiah 30:12-33:12; Galatians 5:1-12; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 23:22
What’s a Father Got to Do With Anything?
We live in a time of self-improvement and self-help; commencement speakers regularly affirm that we can do and be anything that we set our hearts to. The Scriptures, however, approach life from a very different angle.
Yes, the Scriptures teach that wisdom and persistence will lead to a fruitful life, even a prosperous one. But no, the Scriptures do not teach that we can be anything we want to be.
The Scriptures teach that our lives are the fruit of our parents’ lives—and that just like an orange tree will produce oranges, not apples, so we inherit our roots and our foundation from our parents. Thus, Proverbs 23:22 states, “Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
That proverb echoes the words of Moses, who anchors our respect for our parents in the worship of God. Leviticus 19:32 instructs us, “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.”
To respect our fathers and our mothers is to acknowledge that the shape of our lives is more than what we can make by our own efforts. To acknowledge our parents in turn teaches us how to revere the Lord our God, who gives us our lives, shapes us, molds us, forgives us, transforms us, and leads us.
Today, when you show respect to another, do so as a sign of your trust in the God who gives you life.
The Rev. Loren Fox