Week Two CRS SS2 Second Term

WEEK TWO:
PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Parental Responsibilities are the duties or obligations for which parents perform in the lives of their children and are held accountable for. Being a parent is more than just providing food and other basic requirement for a child, it also entails providing guidance, spiritual direction and also helping them to fit in properly with the society. God hold parents accountable for the failures of parental values in the lives of their children.

i. King Asa pleased God (1 Kings 15:9-15)
In 1Kings 15:9-15, the Bible records the story of King Asa, who walked in the ways of the Lord. He took a cue from David, his grandfather. His mother, who was Ma’acah, daughter of Abishalom, had an abominable image made for Asherah. Asa removed her from being queen mother and restored the worship of God in Israel. Some of the things he did include;
(a) He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land,
(b) He removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
(c) He also removed Ma′acah his mother from being queen mother because she had an abominable image made for Ashe′rah; and
(d) Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
(e) He brought into the house of the Lord the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.

ii. King Jehoshaphat follows his father’s way of life (1 Kings 22:41-44)
In 1Kings 22:41-44, the Bible records the reign of Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, whose mother as Azubah. Jehosh′aphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign in Judah, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. He walked in all the way of Asa his father by doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.

Jehoshaphat had watched the way his father lived and made up his mind to also do same. Asa, being a responsible parent must have taught his son that which was right to do. He was a good influence on his son, unlike Eli and Samuel, who walked right with God but never carried their children along.

iii. The Reccabites – (Jeremiah 35:1-19)
Another good example is the house of the Reccabites. The Lord instructed Jeremiah to go to the house of the Re′chabites, and invite them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers and offer them wine to drink. Jeremiah did as the Lord had commanded him and set pitchers full or wine and cups before the Re′chabites. But the Reccabites answered and said, “We will drink no wine, for Jon′adab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons for ever; you shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ They have obeyed the voice of Jon′adab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us. Until Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon came up against the land, and out of fear of the Chaldeans and the army of Syria, they now dwell in Jerusalem.
Because of their obedience to the words of their father, God honoured them. Their father Jonadab, the son of Rechab trained his children well and left a legacy that the children held on for a very long time.

As parents, the duties do not start and end by just providing the basic needs for a child. It goes beyond that. Parents must provide all round development for their children and prepare them for life and to fit in properly into the society.