Many of those who read my blog are parents. Fathers and mothers, father/mother only. All sorts. As a parent, it means that we have children to tend to. Its a joyful, painful process. At the end of the day, we should imitate what Jacob did as he was about to die…bless his children.
Genesis 49:28 (NLT), “These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he told his sons good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message.”
For some of Jacob’s children, there were clear rebukes like Reuben who slept with one of Jacob’s wives. This is a very deplorable action by Reuben and he reaps what he sows. Or Simeon and Levi who massacred a whole town. Levi was redeemed by his tribe’s actions in Exodus but he was still scattered among the other tribes but now in God’s service.
Our children fail us…sometimes a lot. But as fathers, we should always have a blessing for our children. Fathers have a great responsibility to teach their children in the way that they should go. It is a blessing to them. The Father in heaven blessed us with His Son, Jesus, who redeemed us from our sins. It will be a greater blessing if we impart that our children.
Mothers have been blessed by God with such great memory. We honor our mothers as children by giving them beautiful memories to look back on. Mothers will always remember how she reared her children. If she made all the right choices for her child. That is how she is and even Jesus’s mother is like that. That is why it was really devastating for her to see her Son hanging on the cross.
A lot of children break their mother’s heart but as always the case, mothers will be there to stand by their children.
Luke 2:51( NLT), “Then he (Jesus) returned to Nazareth with them (Joseph and Mary) and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.”
Let us all obey the God’s command that we honor our father and mother, this is the only commandment with a promise. If we do that, we have a great opportunity not only to bless our parents but others as well with our testimony.
