Fridays with the Heidelberg

Lord’s Day 39

104. Q. WHAT IS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU IN THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT?

     A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings-for through them God chooses to rule us.

I might be preaching to the choir this week, in that most all who read this post are parents, but the catechism this week speaks to the God ordained parental authority over children.

Honoring parents is honor unto the Lord.  The Heidelberg reminds us that to honor our parents involves love, loyalty, submission, and obedience.  Submission to authority is something that we are called to in a variety of relationships throughout the Christian life; parent-child, wife-husband, slaves-master, church-elders, citizens-governing authorities, etc.  We are setting are children up for disaster if we do not train them up to recognize the importance of authority. 

                                                                                                               

Obedience to authorities is very much a spiritual issue.  While there are no perfect parents, husbands, employers, elders, policemen, political figures, etc…our Creator God, who set up all of these roles of authority, is indeed perfect.  So our honor and submission to these authority roles is a demonstration of trust in our Great, Perfect, Sovereign God.