Walk Of Life – Day 06, January 2022 – Thoughts From The Book Of Proverbs – Enter
Enter, by keeping your father’s commandment and mother’s Teaching
My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother. – Proverbs 6:20
Great parents work together to teach their children rules for safe and successful lives. Great children remember what their parents taught them and do it. God gave parents distinct advantages over children – experience, wisdom, a long-term perspective, great affection for them, and objective knowledge of their children’s weaknesses. The first step to success and prosperity is to obey your parents’ instruction. Simple? Yes. Easy? No.
Reader, how much pain and trouble could you have avoided, if you had obeyed your parents better? No matter how foolish your parents might have been, they were infinitely wiser than you when God introduced you to them at conception and birth (Pr 22:15). However, the proverb speaks primarily of wise and understanding parents, which are a wonderful advantage for children, if they will humbly hear their instruction and keep it.
Child, are you as wise as Solomon hoped his son would be? Do you keep your father’s commandment? Do you obey the law of your mother? God created parents (Gen 3:20; 4:1), and He ordered you to obey them (Ex 20:12; Eph 6:1-3). They know one thousand times more about life, including love and sex, than you. Talk to them. Confess your sins to them. Admit your fears and temptations. Ask for advice and help. Obey their rules.
Optimal parenting requires both fathers and mothers. The father is the primary teacher of spiritual truth in the family, as great fathers in the Bible illustrate (Gen 18:19; Josh 24:15; Ps 34:11; Is 38:19), and as both testaments teach (Ps 78:1-8; Joel 1:1-3; Eph 6:4). However, the mother also has her role, as Solomon knew so well (Pr 1:8; 31:1-2), and as mothers like Hannah and Eunice show (I Sam 1:28; II Tim 1:5; 3:15).
Parent, have you taught your children about life and the right way of the Lord? Or do you merely send them off to school Monday through Friday and to Sunday school on Sunday? Do you teach them strict moral absolutes against the situational ethics of society? Have you taught them wisdom for applying moral absolutes to unique circumstances? Do they know God’s laws about sex? Training children is not an option. It is a commandment of God (Gen 18:19; Deut 6:4-7; Ps 78:1-8; Eph 6:4). Get to it today (Pr 19:18; 29:15)!
A parent’s job is to show the child the way of life. God has appointed parents with this high honor and responsibility. Today, we honor the mother’s contribution. Let me share with you five different teaching methods of moms. They teach the family in different ways.
“When you walk here and there, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you. For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.” (Proverbs 6:22–23)
What you put in the tank matters. Have you ever tried to run an engine with old gas? It sputters and smokes and tries to get going but just doesn’t run like it was meant to. Well, it is the same with us. If I expose myself to junk and corruption and the filth of this world, then I’m going to sputter and struggle and not accomplish what I was meant to do. But if I fill up my tank with the Word of God and surround myself with the Commandments and the instructions of my Father and Mother, then I will run and not grow weary, I will walk and not faint
