Hello All,

As I thought about last Sunday’s service…which was amazing…the Lord led me to a familiar passage of scripture found in the book of Colossians.  But, when I read it this time it was from an entirely different perspective than I have ever seen.  For the first time I saw it in respect to our relationship with our heavenly Father…

Col 3:20
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.  NKJV

I know that this passage is talking about the relationship between children and their earthly parents…but, as I read it today I related it to my relationship with Papa God.  So, I went to the Greek to see what I could uncover…and what I found is rich.

Children– metaphorically, the name is transferred to that intimate and reciprocal relationship formed between men by the bonds of love, friendship, trust, just as between parents and children; (Thayer's Greek Lexicon)

Obey– ‎to listen attentively; by implication, to heed or conform to authority: (Strong’s Condordance)

Parents– a begetter, parent  (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

So, from these definitions we can see that “children” refers to those who are in an “intimate and reciprocal relationship” that is formed by the bonds of “love, friendship and trust.”  That is what Jesus said to His disciples in John 15…we are in a love relationship with Jesus and He has called us His friend!

John 15:15
15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  NKJV

The next word that I defined is “obey” which means to “listen attentively” and to “heed or conform to authority.  Once again the Lord led me to a passage that substantiates this…

Rom 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  NKJV

The last word that I have defined from Col 3:20 is “Parents” and it is described as “a begetter.”  And the root word is the same word that is used in the following passage found in 1 Peter…

1 Peter 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  NKJV