Parentals

I'm on my third bike today, courtesy of the parentals. It's got a wing mirror! HOW COOL IS THAT??

I was in sainsbury's just over a week ago. My unfortunate timing meant that I was in there on campus moving in day, so the place was full of new freshers and their parents, their food supply being catered for for what seemed like all of their degree.
For the majority, the scenarios were the same: surly looking fresher, protesting again and again that they can take care of themselves, they are at uni now, they want to be independent, away from the chiding of fussing parents. While the flustered mums and dads pile their trolleys, and I even caught one dad shout "We are stocking you up till Christmas!"
We all do it don't we. We get to uni, and we suddenly think we can take care of ourselves, buy our own food, cook it, budget, be what our parents have been for the past 18-19 years in the space of getting out of the car outside your new room for the first time.
To be fair, I am one of them, to this day I sigh at my fussing parents, I want my independence, I want to do things my own way. I am me.
Sound familiar?
Think about it, that is exactly what we have done with God. God has made us, fed us, clothed us, given His own life for us in Jesus Christ, and how have we responded? "I know best God, you don't. Let me do things my own way."
We do to our parents as we have done to God. The consequences for both are dire.
Listen: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)
This is not a redundant commandment. As God is our Father and deserves honour from us, so it should be with the parents who brought us up.
Again "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:1-4)
It's interesting isn't it? Paul notes in verse one that this is the first commandment with a promise. That promise is that it may go well with you. Now, I do not at any point claim expertise on the Bible, and to be honest, I do not have much of an idea of what it means. To speculate slightly, I think it could refer to the fact that our parents in general have been given wisdom to parent, so when they say they know best, they generally do.
To demonstrate, I was told to cook and eat well by my parents whilst at university. Let me tell you, I did not. My diet in first year? Two trips a day to Spar, to the hot food processed cabinet, and the confectionery section. Expensive and unhealthy. My parents knew best, and indeed, it would have gone well for me if I had eaten better.
That is one thought on the matter anyway.
What our reaction should be, in actuality, when our parents fuss, when they try to help you, is accept it, graciously, and honour them in their decisions. Another example of a somewhat extreme point is when Jo and I had to postpone our wedding thanks to the current job climate. Now, that was the sensible decision, but stubborn me did not want to take it, at all. In fact, the only way the decision was made was two-fold, one was that Jo didn't want to, and two, it was because her father did not want to give her away to me into a volatile situation. That swung it. I am not claiming that I was an obedient person, it took time. But the challenge of this command is to indeed honour your father and mother, even if they are not your own by blood in this case.
Of course, we do not want to say that our parents are perfect, not at all, they are sinful human beings too. Read verse 4 again "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Some points of note: this passage is addressed to fathers because, as the rest of the sentence highlights, it is the job of the father to teach, to lead his wife and family as Christ led and taught the church, self-sacrificially. (FOR MORE ON THIS, PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 5:22-33 AND COME TO ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS.)
There is also a challenge to parents, to not exasperate their children, but teach them what the Bible says rather than hide behind the "I know best because I am your dad/mum" frame. This is the challenge I think to parents, to relinquish their authority over you. Biblically speaking, this ends the day the child marries, for as Genesis 2:24 states quite clearly "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Your challenge: to love and honour your parents by submitting to them, to acknowledging their help (because believe me, you will want to accept any freebie your parents give you while you are a penniless student!)
I know people who have lost their parents, and I confess before you that I am rubbish at honouring my parents, especially my non-Christian father. Do not think for one second that I have any moral high ground whatsoever. My parents are ace, they have supported me all the way through uni, and even more so now I am unemployed. There really is no excuse.

Read Ephesians 6:1-4 again, and then go and ring your parents.