【双语灵修】孝敬年迈父母HONORING OUR AGING PARENTS

箴言 23:22-25

你要听从生你的父亲，你母亲老了，也不可藐视她。你当买真理，就是智慧、训诲和聪明也都不可卖。义人的父亲必大得快乐，人生智慧的儿子，必因他欢喜。你要使父母欢喜，使生你的快乐。

8月13日

孝敬年迈父母

“你要听从生你的父亲；你母亲老了，也不可藐视她。” - 箴言 23:22

几年前，正当我们那快成年的女儿即将“离巢”之际，我提到了第五诫中关于儿女应当听从父母的诫命。她直视我的眼睛查问：“《圣经》真的教导成年子女也需要听从父母吗？”

这是一个极好的问题，从那时起我便时常思考。一方面，她是正确的：随着孩子长大成人，对父母“听从”的互动模式会有所改变。但是，无论儿女年龄多大，孝敬和尊重父母的教导始终是这条诫命的核心。

在《箴言》的这一章节中，我们读到了“要听从你父亲”这个大有裨益的劝诫—这指向一个事实：通过多年人生起伏所积累的经验，我们的父母确实拥有可以传授给我们的重要智慧。这处我们也读到一个智慧的提醒：不可藐视或冷落年老的父母。事实上，对于现今许多人来说，照料年迈的父母，可能是我们生命中最具挑战性的时期之一。但是，正如神曾经将我们幼年时的照管交托在父母手中，祂如今也将年老父母的照管交托在我们手中。

愿我们竭力在这一生中，去爱并且孝敬父母，正如神呼召我们所行的那样。

祷告

天父，感谢你赐下父母这份礼物。求你帮助我们在年幼时听从他们，并在我们一生中都孝敬、尊重他们。阿们。

Proverbs 23:22-25

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13

HONORING OUR AGING PARENTS

Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. —Proverbs 23:22

Some years ago, as our nearly adult daughter was on the verge of “leaving the nest,” I mentioned something about the fifth commandment’s call for children to obey their parents. She looked me in the eye and asked, “Does the Bible really teach that adult children need to obey their parents?”

That was a great question, and I’ve often thought about it since then. On the one hand, she was right: as children grow into adults, the dynamics of obedience to their parents will change. Yet the instruction for children to honor and respect their parents, regardless of their age, remains at the core of the commandment.

In this section of Proverbs we find the helpful advice to “listen to your father”—and this points to the fact that through experience gained from years of life’s ups and downs, our parents may well have significant wisdom to offer us. We also find here a wise reminder not to dismiss or neglect our aging parents. In fact, for many of us today, caring for aging parents can be one of the most challenging seasons of our lives. Yet as God placed our early care into the hands of our parents, he also places the care of our elderly parents into our hands.

May we strive to do our best to love and honor our parents throughout our entire lives, as God calls us to do.

Father, thank you for the gift of parents. Help us to obey them when we are young, and to honor and respect them throughout our lives. Amen.