Genesis 9:21-23 - Honoring our parents
Scripture:
Genesis 9:21-23
21 He (Noah) drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself
inside his tent.
22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told
his two brothers outside.
23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their
shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their
father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see
their father's nakedness.
NASU
Thoughts:
Ham sins here by not honoring his father, Noah. Obviously Noah has
behaved poorly (verse 21), but even in that context his more noble sons
give him honor (verse 23).
Modern western culture praises those like Ham, not Shem and Japheth.
People who are rebellious and disrespectful towards their parents and
elders are often pictured as the winners in life, the ones to emulate,
the ones who chart their own course and find great success. The
dutiful and respectful like Shem and Japheth are pictured conversely as
weak and unlikely to amount to much.
Even Christians seem to think that honoring our parents is optional.
That it's okay to treat them with a level of disrespect if not outright
imitating the world around us. But God clearly does not agree. In
fact it is so important that He included this in the 10 commandments:
Exodus 20:12
12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon
the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
NKJV
But let's be honest. Not all parents are easy to respect. You may not
even know one or both of your parents. Perhaps they abandoned you.
Perhaps they were just rotten role models in your life. Even though
few of us have parents who live up to the high praises in the typical
Mother's or Father's Day card, we can still honor our parents. No, we
cannot dishonestly praise them for things that they did not do or did
not do well, but we can give them honor simply for the fact that they
are our parent. No one else will ever be able to hold the unique
position that they have held in our life. We can honor them if nothing
else, for the fact that God brought us into being through them.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to grow in understanding how to honor my parents. Let me
give them the honor they deserve. They are not perfect, like Noah, but
I am called to honor them, regardless. Help me to do this with
sincerity in my heart.
Amen