Lady Lesson #5: The Practical Side to Obedience
"My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart." (Pro 7:1-3)
Proverbs 7 addresses the son in particular, but the commandment expressed here is a general command too, so it is also addressed to every young God fearing lady. Keeping God's commandment, being obedient to His word, is nothing heavy or burdensome, but a delight instead, a treasure, something very precious that you enjoy doing, both inwardly and outwardly. Jesus tells us that obedience to Him is an easy yoke, a light burden (Mat 11:30), and John repeats this in his first letter.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." (1Jn 5:3)
Please keep this in mind as you read the following lesson because this is the right attitude towards commandments from God and your parents - that you should do what they ask or tell you with a joyful and light heart, knowing that even if you do not understand why you are asked to do something, you can rest assured that it is to the best of your development and character training. Of course you should be aware that disobedience is followed by chastisement, and that a child that is not disciplined is not loved by its parents, just like God disciplines those he loves. But this is a topic for another lesson.
What, now, does practical obedience look like ?
In general, you are an obedient child if you listen to what your parents have to say, and do what they ask you to do. Do it swiftly and without delay, do it with a song and a smile on your lips and with a light heart, knowing that your parents are interested in the formation of your character and care for you every second of your life. Be sure not to grumble against your parents, either in your heart or outspokenly, and if you are unhappy about your chore or do not see the need or proper reason to do what your parents ask you, remember that we all are in the same position when we read God's commandments in Scripture, and that just doing what He commands more often than not creates an understanding about the reasons for the command. Remember too, though, that with God as with parents, our obedience has to be based on trust, not understanding, in the first place.
Now for some examples:
If your parents ask you
- to go to bed,
- to eat with utensils,
- to be kind to your siblings,
- to stop yelling,
- to change your clothing,
- to wash your hands,
- to clean your room,
- to get the eggs out of the hen house,
- to play with your younger siblings,
- to help with the dishes,
- to lay the table,
- to redo your essay,
- to weed the tomato patch,
- to feed the dog
- to brush the horse's coat,
- to clean the bathroom,
- to scrub the kitchen floor,
- to shovel snow or
- to clean the windows,
no matter what chore you will get or what you are asked to do or not to do - and chores will change with time, depending on your age and general development - do it joyfully and do it well, knowing that your attitude towards your parents and their wishes or commands shows your love for your parents, and for God.
The above are just examples, and I could come up with another 500 or so, and I bet you can add another 500 from your own experience, dear young lady. The point about practical obedience is not what examples we can think up, but to remember that the attitude with which you go about being obedient is crucial, no matter what the chore is or what your parents wish.
A word about authorities to round up this lesson:
There are people who will tell you that teachers, if you go to school, or elders at church, if you go to church, have a similar authority over you as your parents do, and you are required to obey them just as well as your parents. Now, the bible does command you to honor the hoary headed man, that is, older people (Lev 19:32, Pro 16:31), for their age is a crown of glory and you should not assume you are better than an elderly person just because you are still young and can probably see, run, hear better than they can anymore. So you owe elderly people respect, and should help them whenever you can, and be eager to learn from your grandparents or other elderly family members, but remember that it is your parents who are commanded to raise you, not a teacher, not an elder in the church. Their authority is not the same that your parents have, and your parents should not hand over the responsibility of raising you to the glory of God to anyone else. But despite all this, your behavior towards other people, be they people of authority or not, will reflect back on your parents and their success or failure to raise you well according to God's word, so make sure to be kind and helpful and a the same time demure, so as to give glory to God and honor to your parents in everything you do.
Introduction to the Lady Lesson section
Lady Lesson #1: A Lady's Do's and Don't's
Lady Lesson #2: The Most Important Thing
Lady Lesson #4: The General Principle of Obedience
Lady Lesson #6: A Woman's Calling
Lady Lesson #7: What Is Wrong With School ?
Lady Lesson #8: The Principle of Purity
