Should a child prioritise wisdom over obedience?

We have an interesting conundrum here.

On the one hand you want to obey someone but on the other hand you want wisdom too.

I'm going to try to go through what it means to do each individually, then how to prioritise.

Obedience

God

In the bible we're called to obey a number of institutions, people and God Himself. First of all and foremost we're called to obey God.

Deut 5:33 Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

Obedience to God is key, because it is He who we will one day stand before when we're judged. We're to obey Him because He has created us, He sustains us, and He is God so He deserves our obedience.

We see that obedience to God is more important to Him than sacrifices.

1 Sam 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

If we're doing religious works, maybe serving in church, but we don't have obedience in our lives, then it's a problem. God tells us that to obey is better than our sacrifices, and things we bring to offer to God.

But we're also to see that our obedience can never make us right with God.

Rom 8:3 or what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

We can't be right with God by obeying His law.

We have failed in its perfect standard, and we continue to fail every day, so we need Christ's work to make us right with God.

Authority

1 Peter 2: 13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

There are structures in place in society to keep order. We may not agree with everything this leaders do or decree, but Gods word callus us to submit to them. David when he was anointed to be king still submitted to Saul as king. He didn't rebel against him, and gather troops to go to battle with Saul. He submitted and saw Saul as the Lords anointed.

We too are to submit to the leaders that the Lord has put in place in our society.

Examples of this are government, police, judges, teachers, leaders in church, and bosses at work.

Parents

Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Children are called to obey their parents in the Lord. They are also called to honour their father and mother. Honouring your father and mother is something we have to do lifelong, but as we grow into adulthood, we reach a point where we're to leave our mother and father.

Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

The relationship changes as we move into adulthood, and we have a new relationship with a wife. A new family unit is created, and needs to make choices and decisions based on what is right for them to do before God.

You still need to honour your father and mother, but this isn't the same as when a child requiring you to obey what they tell you too.

An example may be where a parent tells you that you need to come and drive them somewhere, but that same time your wife needs your help at the same time because she's finding things tough. In this case you need to help your wife, because Gods word commands it.

Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

Your parent can catch the bus or train in this situation.

Order

There is an order to obedience too.

If those in authority tell us we need to do something which is against Gods word, then we are to obey God. If for example, your boss tells you to lie about something, then you are to obey God and not your boss. If your parents tell you to do something against Gods word, for example they fall out with your wife, and tell you to leave her because they don't like her. Then you are to obey Gods word instead.

Gods word and obeying Him trumps everything else.

This is even true for religious leaders. If a religious leader tells you to do something that isn't in line with Gods word, then you are to obey Gods word, and be very wary of that leader going forward. Someone could claim to be a pastor but tell you some very wrong things, just as the religious leaders did in Christs time.

Or another example maybe a government that tells us to do something that is in contradiction to Gods word. Maybe the Nazi German government told people they needed to tell them if they knew of anyone hiding Jewish people. But to do this would result in their murder. So we would be involved in breaking the commandment to not kill, so we are to obey God instead.

We're to look to God and His word as our ultimate authority.

Wisdom

So what then is wisdom?

So interestingly wisdom is very much linked to obedience.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

If we want knowledge and wisdom, then we are to start that journey by fearing the Lord. That fear will lead us to submit to and obey Him, and put Him in His right place over us. You want to remain foolish, then despise instruction. Don't do what God asks you to do, and you will remain foolish.

We have a similar idea in the new testament.

Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

If you want to be wise, then obey Gods words. It makes it really simple for us to become wise, because its simply do what God says. The first and most important thing that He calls us to do is to repent and trust in Him.

Why is it wise?

Well because wise choices are the ones that are good for us in the long term, not the short term. We have eternity ahead of us, that goes on for forever and forever, and if we dont come to the Lord and obey Him, then we will spend it far from God. How foolish would that be.

So should a child prioritise wisdom over obedience?

Well the thing is, you need to do both, and they go hand in hand. You cant have one without the other.

But if someone is calling you to disobey God, then you are to obey God and not what that person is calling you to do.

To do this you need to come to God's word and see what He requires of you, and then do it.

Sometimes this may mean that our parents wont understand, and will treat you badly.

Matt 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

If we are seeking to obey God, then at times it will cause divisions between children and parents. We're still to seek to honour them even if they turn against us, but we have to obey God and what He calls us to do first and foremost.