“Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” Colossians 3:20

“I’m sooooo bored,” Jeremy said sighing.  “I don’t think I can stand another day like this.”

“Hey, I know, let’s go swimming in Taylor’s pond!” said Stella.

“I don’t know; we better not.  Your grandma said to stay away from that pond, and there’s a big ‘NO SWIMMING’ sign right there by the water,” said Jeremy.  “And besides, that would be disobeying your grandma.”

“Oh, come on, be adventurous.  She won’t know; she’s upstairs taking a nap.  We’ll be there and back before she wakes up, and who cares about some old sign?  Just pretend you can’t read.  We’ll be really quiet; no one will ever know,” said Stella.

“I don’t think we should,” said Jeremy.  “That sign was put there for a reason.”

“Look, that sign isn’t for us.  It’s for people who don’t live around here, that’s all.  I’m going whether you go or not,” Stella said huffing as she ran out the door.

Taylor’s Pond was just down the road from Stella’s house.  She had been dying to go swimming all summer.  The pond was lined with beautiful pink flowering bushes, purple wild flowers and gigantic evergreen trees and there were woods right next to it.  Sometimes, you could see deer wander out of the woods for a cool drink of water.   If you didn’t live nearby you would never know it was there.

“Wow, it’s a really big pond,” said Jeremy hesitantly as they climbed through the bushes.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” cried Stella.  “Come on, let’s jump in.”

“You go ahead.  I’ll just sit here by the tree and watch you,” said Jeremy.

“Boy, you are such an old fuddy-duddy,” said Stella as she jumped into the pond and started splashing around.  After a few minutes, she cried, “Hey, Jeremy, the water’s great, come on in.”

But Jeremy was nowhere to be found.  Stella climbed out of the water and began looking around.

“Come on, Jeremy, this isn’t funny.  Where are you?”

After searching for a few minutes, and still not finding him, Stella was getting really worried.  She finally decided she needed to get some help.

“Grandma, Grandma,” cried Stella as she ran into the house.  “Jeremy’s missing, I can’t find him!”

“What?” said Grandma.  “Where did you see him last?”

“Taylor’s Pond.  When I jumped in the water Jeremy was sitting under a tree.  I was just swimming around and when I looked back on the bank, he was gone!”

“Oh, my, let’s call for help and then go see if we can find him.  I hope he hasn’t drowned,” exclaimed Grandma.

“What?” cried Stella.

“Don’t you know?  Jeremy can’t swim,” said Grandma.

“He never told me that,” exclaimed Stella.  “Hurry, we’ve got to find him!”

Stella and her grandma ran back to the pond just as the police and fire department were arriving.  Everyone was calling Jeremy’s name and looking for him.

“I found him!” cried a police officer as he and Jeremy walked out of the woods.

“Oh, Jeremy, where were you?” said Stella as she raced toward her best friend.  “I thought something horrible happened when I couldn’t find you.”

“Naaaaw, I’m okay.  I just went into the woods to explore,” he said.

“Well, why didn’t you tell me you were going into the woods?” Stella said.

“I was embarrassed because I can’t swim.  That’s why I didn’t want to go swimming with you,” he said.

“Well, I know that now.  My grandma told me…..”  Her voice trailed off as she looked at her grandma.

“Stella, I think we need to have a talk,” stated Grandma.  “There’s a reason I told you to stay away from Taylor’s Pond.  Even if Jeremy could swim, something terrible could have happened to either one of you.”

“I know,” said Stella, “but it was so hot and we were bored.”

“I understand that, but you deliberately disobeyed me, Stella.  There are certain rules for children and grandchildren, for their own safety.  How would you have felt if something had happened to Jeremy, or to you for that matter?”

“I know.  I’m so sorry.” Stella sighed.  “I won’t ever disobey you again, Grandma.”

“Okay, let’s go home and eat some of those cookies I baked this morning,” said Grandma.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1

Sometimes you may not understand why your parents and grandparents make certain rules for you, but you are instructed that you must obey without question.  You need to trust that they have your best interest in mind. As you obey your parents, you are obeying God.

Just because your parents may not see what you are doing, God can see everything you do and that is more important. He does not miss anything and He has His angels write everything down.

Achan thought he was doing something in secret. He took some gold and clothing from Jericho and hid them in his tent. Joshua and the leaders in Israel did not see or notice, but God saw. In the end God revealed the actions of Achan to Joshua and Achan lost his life.

Joseph’s brothers were not doing things that were right and tried to keep it a secret from their father. However, their younger brother Joseph saw and told his father. Joseph faithfully followed the Lord and was obedient and in the end God blessed him and he was made prime minister in Egypt, while his brothers never received such honours.

In Ancient Israel, anyone who lacked respect for their parents was punished severely. “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.” Leviticus 20:9. God is not happy when you do not respect your parents. He looks at it as a terrible sin.

“Children who dishonor and disobey their parents, and disregard their advice and instructions, can have no part in the earth made new. The purified new earth will be no place for the rebellious, the disobedient, the ungrateful son or daughter. Unless such learn obedience and submission here, they will never learn it; the peace of the ransomed will not be marred by disobedient, unruly, unsubmissive children. No commandment breaker can inherit the kingdom of heaven.” –The Adventist Home, p. 294

Even though nothing bad ended up happening to Jeremy in our story, something bad could have happened. When we disobey, sometimes God, in His mercy, keeps us safe from bad things happening, but still God is not happy. He is very sad when we disobey, because He cannot take disobedient children to heaven.  He wants each and every one of you in heaven with Him.

Make a decision today, that you will obey and respect your parents at all times.