HAVE YOU EMBARRASED YOUR PARENTS?
«Children who mistreats their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace» (Proverbs 19:26, NLT).
Have you ever embarrassed your parents with your behavior? Have your bad deeds tainted your family’s good name? The situation is even more dramatic if your parents are exemplary Christians and you appear as the «black sheep» of the family.
King Manasseh was one of the most nefarious leaders of the kingdom of Judah. Although Hezekiah, his father, carried out a whole spiritual revolution in favor of his people, the young monarch turned out to be a real calamity. The biblical description Of him is blunt: «he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he nised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ‘In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.’ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger» (2 Chronicles 33:3-6).
Manasseh’s bad influence almost annulled the good works and the memory of his father. Few would have thought that Hezekiah’s son—the great restorer of the Hebrew faith in Judah—was to become a sorcerer and promoter of sorcery! The results didn’t take long to be presented: the king of Judah was dethroned. Then he was chained and driven away as a slave to Babylon. There, it seems that his treatment was not very cordial and, in the midst of the loneliness of the dungeon, he remembered the true God. He humbled himself sincerely before the heavenly Father. Then the Lord listened to him and forgave his sins. In addition, he allowed him to return to Jerusalem to reign again. This is how this young man sincerely tried to mend his ways by fulfilling the divine will.
If you have embarrassed your parents with your actions or attitudes, do not wait for things to go any further, until you become so corrupt. It’s not worth it. It is time to repent before God and humble yourself before Him. I assure you that He will not reject you. Besides, He will give you new opportunities to conduct your life down the straight path. That will fill your parents with a very special joy. Make them happy today. They deserve it.
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Take From: Daily Devotions for Youth 2020
«A New You»
From: Alejandro Medina Villareal
Collaborators: Gezer Noria & Misael Morillo