Tuesday; August 9

When I was younger, I remember that some of the conversations I had with my parents ended with those dreaded words, “Because I told you so”. I may not be able to recall what started the discussion, but these final words still stick in my ears. My folks were not abusive or even oppressive. In fact, they might even visit with me about the rationale behind their decisions, but there would eventually come a point in time when the line was drawn in the sand. They were the parents and they had made their decision.

Now, the reason I bring this up has less about how we should parent and more to do with how we should accept our Father’s decisions. We live in a time that was born out of questioning authority. We are a few generations into a belief that decisions have to be explained. We feel that there are few (if any) absolutes. While this may be the way our society functions, that isn’t God’s way. Yes, for Him, there are still absolutes and there are times when the best justification is because He said so. The other day I was reading a rather “controversial” passage that says, “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” (Colossians 3:18). The thing that got my attention wasn’t as much the regulation as the rationale. Did you notice that Paul didn’t offer an explanation? His instruction included a precept and a simple principle, because that’s how God wants it. There are other places where He fleshes this out a bit, but for the church in Colossae he basically said, because God said so.

No, God isn’t a tyrant, but He is the ultimate Authority. There are occasions when He takes the time to explain things, but there are others where He instructs us to just do it. Let’s be willing to accept God’s word, not because it makes sense, but because He said it.

Think About It!

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