ICS Daily Devotions
No One Is Perfect
Exodus 20:12 (NKJV) “Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
The Hebrew word for honour is “ka-bed”. In the context of this scripture, it literally means treating one’s parents with the gravity that their position demands. Honouring our parents means going beyond childhood and into their old age where we bear their burdens because they are no longer able to. We are to honour our parents through speech and actions, such as rising to greet them, offering them our seats, and maintaining regular contact with them such as calling them every week.
The Bible teaches us to give honour when it is due by submitting to the authorities that God has established, and we are to respect and honour the position even when we have lost respect for the individual holding the position. Likewise, we are to honour our parents even if we have lost respect and love for them as they are imperfect beings.
Luke 15:12,20 (NKJV) And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood…… “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
In this parable, this son was literally cursing the father and wishing him dead by demanding his inheritance when his father was still alive. The father had every right to be angry and take offense over the demand by his son, and to disown him for cursing him to be dead. He also had every right to be angry over how his son had squandered away the money and brought disgrace to the family. In fact, the father could have chosen to receive him back as a servant so that the son would live in regret for the rest of his life. However, the father chose to be gracious in his treatment towards his son. Because he viewed his son as much more important than money and possessions, he was willing to journey with him and extend grace to him. The father must have established enough unconditional love with his children for him to have the confidence that his son would one day come back; he didn’t burn all the bridges by being harsh with his words or by being physically abusive, but kept the communication channel open with the son.
We have much to learn from the father in the passage. We need to learn to treat others with the same kind of grace and love. He never expected his two sons to be perfect because he knew they couldn’t be. Similarly, our Heavenly Father is also aware that we are not perfect and will never be until we enter into heaven, but He chose to love us all the same.
Sermon Series: Extending Grace
