One of my sisters was comparing two separate periods – the time she and her peers were raised and what happens today. She told me how the words and preferences of fathers were sacrosanct in those days. To illustrate further, she recalled when our father told her that he did not want her to marry to a distant land. Out of respect for our father, she put an end to a fledgling relationship with a man. She could not bear disrespecting the old man by going against his wish. This brings us to the next life code. The ninth “do not” in Proverbs 23 is in respect to parents. We observed something at the beginning of this series which is worth repeating here. Whenever God gives a warning, it is because a danger exists. We are warned not to despise our parents when they are old, suggesting that such temptation is real. As our parents slide into old age, they may suffer from any of the diseases associated with that phase of life. Self-care is out of the equation for them; that is when those who carried us from the womb to maturity need us to carry them.

While it may not be convenient, it is a grave danger to neglect them. Again, as they age, they may not make sense at all or make “our sense”. Their reasoning and interpretation of events may be locked up in the past, having little bearing to modern day happenings. Even if this be the case, the warning still stands – “Do not despise your mother when she is old”. This warning is important because we are also travelling to the place where they are at the moment. Someday we will also become old. What we do for them is a seed; the harvest awaits us at the end of the day. Paul wrote to admonish children to obey their parents in the Lord, stressing this is the first commandment with a promise. How we treat our parents can impact how we fare in life and how long we live.