Reading: Proverbs 4-7
Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get under- standing: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee (Prov. 4:1-6).
All parents have been charged by God to provide their children with Godly instruction and discipline. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up (Deut. 6:7). Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it (Prov. 22:6). And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). In today’s reading, we look at the mirror image of that charge, focusing not on the parent’s responsibility but rather the child’s. Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth (Eph. 6:1-3). Just as it is the parent’s responsibility to instruct the child, it is the child’s responsibility to absorb that instruction, study on it, and apply it to their life. In the beginning, the learning is instinctual. The child is 100% dependent on the parent and thus is entirely focused on them as their source of survival. As the child grows, that focus is fragmented by worldly distractions, and conscious choice comes into play. Today’s reading entreats the child to choose wisdom over folly, to listen to the Godly words of their parents, and to let their heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
Solomon is not merely referring here to the act of learning that takes place before the age of majority. Our need for Godly instruction and guidance is unending. The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge (Prov. 18:15). From the moment we are born until we draw our last breath, we are learning and processing. In that sense, we will always be children to the generations that proceed us just as they are to the generations that came before them. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding (4:7). It would be the opposite of wisdom to decide that those who have walked with God longer than we have been alive no longer have anything to teach us.
Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? hath He not made thee, and established thee? Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee (Deut. 6:7).
Thought For TodayAll children go through a rebellious phase; those who have been provided with a strong foundation of faith often weather the storm better than those who have not.
Word Studies: 4:12 straitened = hindered; 4:13 fast = firm; 4:24 froward mouth = deceitful talk; 5:3 strange = adulterous; 5:6 moveable = irresponsible, unstable; 5:19 ravished = delighted; 5:22 holden with the cords of his sins = ensnared, held fast by the control of his sins; 6:12 naughty = worthless, wicked.
Pray For Staff: Jennifer Palafox • Government Officials: Rep. James Clyburn (SC), Rep. Cori Bush (MO), Sen. John Barrasso (WY) • Country: Togo (7,351,374) Western Africa • Major Languages: French, Ewe, Mina, Kabye, Dagomba • Religious Freedom • 29% Christian; 20% Muslim; 51% Indigenous Beliefs • Prayer Suggestion: Confess your sins to the Lord; He is quick to forgive (Ps. 32:5).
Optional Readings:Titus 2