Listen to Your Father

Throughout my life, I have gone by many titles such as child, student, pastor, editor, professor, and my favorite, which is "husband." A close second is the title "dad." I will never forget the moment I first saw my son. It changed my life forever. At that moment, I learned more about God than possibly at any other time of my life. I learned unconditional love. There was nothing this new child could physically do for me, but there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him. That son recently graduated high school and is beginning to spread his wings and fly. Over the past 18 years, I have taught him about all that I can.

Much of the book of Proverbs is instructions or teachings from a father to his son. After the prologue in Chapter 1 (verses 1-7), the father jumps right into his instructions with two foundational principles. The first has to do with relationships. In verses 10-19, the father teaches the son the importance of choosing his friends carefully. A statement I repeated over and over to my son was, “Show me your friends and I will show you your future.” In this life, we will all encounter temptations. Those closest to us will either help us fight those temptations or lure us into them. 

The second foundational principle is a repeated theme throughout the book of Proverbs. It is to treasure wisdom. In verses 20 through 33, wisdom is personified as a woman shouting from the public square. She calls out to the simple ones, those that are naïve, believing anything, to the scorners, those that know everything, listening to no one, and to the fools, those that are stubborn, caring nothing about wisdom. In other words, wisdom calls out to everyone. A lesson I taught my son is that what is right or wrong may not always be clear. In those instances, you must ask, “What is wise?” The final verse in chapter one gives the reward for listening to wisdom. “Whoever listens to me (wisdom) will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” 

Reflective Questions:

1.  What is the greatest lesson you learned from your parents? How has that lesson impacted your life as an adult? 

2.  Think about the people you are closest to. Do they help you in your fight with temptation, or do they lure you into temptation? Do they help you grow closer to Christ or push you further away from Him? 

3.  Wisdom is calling out to you. How are you responding? How are you growing in wisdom today? How often do you ask, “What is the wise thing to do?”

Memory Verse:

Whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil. Proverbs 1:33

Prayer:

Dear God, thank you for all that I have learned throughout my life. Help me each day to continue to grow in wisdom.