Burning Vapor

Ephesians 6 & The Chainsaw

Yesterday was a good opportunity to point the boys to Jesus, and then amazingly enough it was reinforced today.

We had a big work party at our house (Big ups to the Gieglers and Ray’s for all their help!!) yesterday.  We painted furniture, we hung pictures, we assembled cabinets, we mounted a tv, etc, etc.  It was long and exhausting work, but it was good.  At the end of the day everyone was packing up and heading home, but my friend Matt had left his chainsaw.  One of the boys found the chainsaw and we took it out to Matt just as they were leaving.  Matt had brought the chainsaw to take down a tree limb in the front yard.  Here is how the conversation went.

Caleb:  Dad, why are you giving him the chainsaw back?  We need to keep it so that we can cut the limb off.
Dad: Well, I told Granddaddy that he could cut the limb off, so we will wait for him.
Noah: Dad, I don’t get it.  If we have the chainsaw right here, why don’t we just cut the limb?
Dad: Because I told Granddaddy that he could cut it off and he likes to help us around the house.
Noah:  I don’t get it.
Dad: Let me explain.  Ephesians 6 tells children to honor their parents right?  Well, Granddaddy really likes to help us around the house.  He is a handyman and I am not.  We have lived a long way from Granddaddy for a long time, so anytime that he can come over and help it makes him feel good.
Noah: But it’s just a tree limb…
Dad: Exactly.  It’s just a tree limb.  And by waiting for Granddaddy to come and cut it down I will be honoring him.  Still don’t get it do you?  You see, Christians like to help each other and even more so when they are family.  So Granddaddy really, really likes to help us because he loves us.  If I cut the limb down then he doesn’t get the chance to show us love.  I would rather wait a little longer so that Granddaddy can show us love by cutting down the tree limb.
Noah: I still don’t get it.
Caleb: I get it.
Noah: Shut up Caleb…Mr. Smartypants…

Keith then preached on that passage this morning and even mentioned that older children need to honor their older parents.  Perfect.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 pm and is filed under Gospel, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.