Maineville Lighthouse Church

 

I was thinking…Pastor Steve

​

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long

in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

Exodus 20: 12  (NIV)

 

          I was thinking about this commandment, one of Ten given to Moses by God.  I like this one (maybe because I'm a Dad).  I agree whole-heartedly with all of the Commandments, although that wasn't always the case.  I have apologized for my actions to teachers as well as to my parents.  For some reason, those who were closest to me, I often treated badly.  I was a jerk and didn't care.  My parents were just collateral damage to doing my own thing.  How dumb is that, to hurt the ones who love you the most?

          Looking back on these Ten Commandments...well, I failed rather miserably at most of them.  I had thought it was just the one above but reading through them, and being honest, I have to say none were very high on my list back then.  Maybe staying faithful in keeping these Commandments starts at the beginning.  I didn't make God the most important thing in my life at that time.  I did put another god before Him, that god I made was me!  I was my own god, and I did pretty much what I wanted.

          If I am my own god, then the rest of the Commandments don't mean anything, right?  I won't say how many of them I broke, but, shamefully, it was too many.  Once I got the first one right, then the rest became easier to follow.  In fact, they make perfect sense.  When we are willing to put God first as the only God to worship, then we will begin to read His Word in order to understand who He is, what He wants from us, and why Jesus is so important in our lives.

          Let me get back to the fifth one about honoring your father and mother.  If you have been like me, and maybe you didn't get the opportunity to apologize or you feel compelled to treat everyone older than you as an elder equal to a father and mother, then you can honor them in many ways.  I know some people volunteer to "adopt a senior" for Christmas.  Some take on shopping for our senior citizens or volunteer to deliver "meals on wheels."  Maybe we should look around at those in our fellowship who aren't able to get around as much as they used to.  Maybe they would like to get picked up for a grocery run or have someone offer to pick the groceries up, if they already ordered them on the phone.  Maybe they would appreciate a simple note, card, or phone call.  Someone to remember them on their birthday or Christmas might be nice.  We have a few seniors from our fellowship who aren't able to attend.  Let me highlight them.

 

• Imogene (Delores) Swigert lives at Cedarview Nursing Care on the east side of Lebanon.  This has been quite a change for her the last year and half, but she is adapting fairly well.

• JoAnn Weller and her brother, Will Hildebrant, live at Optimized Senior Living on the west side of Lebanon.  Both have trouble hearing, which can make people feel even more isolated.  This is a new situation for them as well.  They just moved out of their home early last year.  JoAnn has trouble with pain in her hip, and Will gets around fairly well.

• Flora Sullivan lives in a senior living apartment in Mason.  She can still do for herself but needs help here and there and has macular degeneration that has really affected her sight.

• Ruth Kroener is still at home and doing fairly well but doesn't drive.  I haven't visited her as much as the others, but I'm sure prayers, notes, and cards would be appreciated. 

 

          There will be others in coming years, possible any one of us.  I like the promise at the end of the Commandment.  Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.  We don't honor our parents and elders to gain something, but it looks like we will anyway.  Think about that.  God bless.