Family Ties

Proverbs 19:26 (KJV) He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.

Recently, I visited my uncle.  He’s 93 and has made a decision to move from his two bedroom duplex into assisted-living.  It’s his decision.  He made it on his own.  He had some good reasons for doing so.  In the midst of this decision, I think there is an awareness as if it were necessary his children would find ways to take care of him.

This verse should remind us of a principle that God is established for the family.  When the children are young, adults take care of them.  The adults do a good job.  Then the children become independent and stand on their own two feet.  When the parents get too old to care for themselves the biblical standard is that the children will make sure that they are taken care of.  How that would work out and each individual family I don’t know.  We joke about if I were left penniless and no place to go, my son has a spare bedroom.  To his credit and my sense of satisfaction, he nods his head and says, “Sure.”

In many families, the animosity created by the parents, or the children would make this impossible.  In some families the elderly are so irascible that no one would have them.  To be honest many have earned that rejection.  It’s sad the way family breaks down, but there still is a biblical principle here.

So?  We never had to take our parents in, but we always made sure that they had a place to live and they were taken care of.  I trust that God will honor us in the same way with our children.  It’s a standard that needs to be reinforced.