Deuteronomy 22.7 7 You may take the young, but be sure to
let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long
life. (NIV)
When I read this today I thought, hmmm, this sounds
familiar. Then I looked back to Deuteronomy 5 and found: “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded
you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the
Lord your God is giving you." (V.16) So I thought, hmmm, there must be
some kind of correlation. And then it occurred to me that God respects the big
stuff and the small.
Honoring one’s parents surely would be more admirable in
the hierarchy of things, wouldn’t it? I mean, parents to most are a big deal,
aren’t they? Taking care of one’s parents makes the top 10 doesn’t it? So it is
no wonder to me that God had Moses include parental care in the Top 10. Our
parents ought to deserve our best – after all they brought us into the world,
and in the world is where we’ve come to know and experience God – what’s
better than that?
It’s a big deal. At least it should be. But not everyone
honors their father and mother. Not every father or mother is honorable or
meets the test for honor. Some parents are real jerks to their kids. Some
parents are nothing more than Baby Mamas or sperm donors; just an oven and
dough. But God never intended for it to be that way; life in this world is way
often way less than God intended for it to be.
But as far as I know there are no qualifiers for the
God-knower as to what is honorable and what is not: the commandment simply
says: “Honor your father and your mother,
as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it
may go well with you…” So, law or no, we’re to find that place in our
hearts before God to honor those who participated in the days leading up to our
live birth. It was because of that that we know God today. It’s a big deal.
Good parents or no. We’re to accept them for who they are, not what
they are.
And I think as far as the verse above goes, about birds
and nests and eggs, we’re to even honor those whose job it is to be involved in the bringing forth of life in whatever
manner God has chosen for them – even birds. It’s not the bird, it is respect
for what God has chosen for that silly bird to do: bring forth life. We’re not
to destroy it.
This little verse in the midst of Moses’ re-telling (or repeating:
Deuteronomy) of the Law helps me understand God a little bit more today. Jesus
said, Consider the ravens: They do not
sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much
more valuable you are than birds! (Luke 12.24) God cares for all life and
for the propagation of life and for the continuation of life in whatever manner
life takes form. It seems in the matter of nests and eggs and birds, we’re to
care as well, and honor all parenthood in its various forms…
Father in Heaven, You care for birds and You care for me.
May I partner with You in the care of this earth and in the care of the things
You have placed on this earth for my good. May I follow Your heart in the
propagation of and the continuation of life in whatever form it is, that all
may be blessed by You. Amen.
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