Day 76: Respect Your Elders

18 Mar, 2014

Numbers 26:1-51

Luke 2:36-52

Psalm 60:1-12

Proverbs 11:15

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CityLight Pastor Commentary:

Luke 2 plainly tells us no person is too old to be used by God. Anna had been widowed for 84 years, and she had been married for 7 years before that. Assuming she was at least 14 when she was married, that would have made her at least 105 at the time of Jesus’ birth! That says something. She made a decision to constantly rest in God’s presence, praying and fasting: the result was a long life and eternal recognition as the prophetess who got to see Jesus face to face. We must respect our elders. Unfortunately we sometimes fail to treat our elders with the respect they deserve. Just because someone is older than you does not necessarily mean they are smarter, or even wiser; it does mean, however, that he or she has been around longer than you. Even Jesus Christ Himself knew He must respect His earthly parents. After teaching at the temple in Jerusalem, He “…went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them…” (Lk 2:51). The result was that “…Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52). If we want to increase in wisdom and stature, we must respect our elders and learn from them while we can.

 

Prayer:

“Father, help me to respect my elders. You have put elderly relatives, friends and neighbors in my life for a reason. I want to respect them and glean what I can from them, knowing that You love them and work through them no matter their age!”