It's interesting that the first lesson on learning to love my neighbor as myself has to do with honoring those God has placed in authority over me as a child. And then He bundled into this commandment a warning that says my life expectancy, the availability of His resources and my progress toward achieving His plan for my life are contingent upon my obedience here. This is not easy for me to hear as a typical American. I live in a culture that viciously criticizes and ridicules its leaders, that avoids the elderly, and suspects that submission is a scheme invented by people who merely want to exploit me. Once again I am confronted with the fact that the way God thinks and the way my society thinks are vastly different. But if the Bible is really God's Word and He means what He says, I could release some powerful blessings into my life by learning what it means to "honor my father and mother," so let's look more closely.

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