Key Verse: Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. (Proverbs 1:8)
News flash: Teenagers roll their eyes. When kids in their teens are beginning to find their identity, one of the things they need to do is begin to take control of their lives. Until now, parents have always made the rules and set the agenda. For the teenager now it’s time to begin to take the reins. How that transition goes can be a critical factor in family dynamics.
When King Solomon sat down to write his long introduction to his Proverbs (ch. 1-9), his mind may have been on one or more of his own sons, or he may have been thinking of young people in general and used the words ‘my son’ as a rhetorical device. Whichever was the case, we have his words (and the words of a few others which were added) as divine scriptures.
Solomon has said in 1:7 that there are two ways in life: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” One thing he says here is that if we have a proper fear of the Lord, we will listen to the wisdom of others; but if we do not, we will despise the wisdom of others and what they can teach us.
Then he turns directly to this: “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching” (1:8). Solomon knew that the alternative was for his son to be led astray by ‘sinful men,’ who would promise him the world. They would entice him with ill-gotten gain. They would tempt him with wealth; their words reflect this: “We will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder.”
It’s not clear why Solomon’s son would be tempted by this; he must have had a very comfortable life. It may be in line with St. Augustine’s theory that an apple tastes sweeter if it is stolen. Or it may be that Solomon has a wider audience in mind—an audience other than the son of a wealthy king.
Regardless, the two ways are clearly divided. It matters whose advice you listen to. One will lead uphill and the other downhill. Or to use Jesus’ terminology, one will take you on the narrow road that leads to life, and the other on the broad road that leads to destruction (Mat. 7:13-14).
Solomon illustrates this with a remarkable image: “How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it!” (2:17). These men, he writes, are worse than that: they “lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves!” When they set a trap for others, they themselves fall into it.
Who do you listen to? Whose advice do you take? As we get older, we learn that our parents are often wiser than we thought. They, of course are not the only source of wisdom; there are others. Do you have a mentor; or if you are more mature, are you a mentor to someone else? God puts us in churches so that we have that kind of resource. If you don’t have someone you can go to for good advice, ask God to give you a mentor and keep your eyes open for the answer to your prayer. If you are a parent, are you guiding your children with God-given wisdom, and do you show your own parents proper respect and appreciation?
Prayer: Lord, please give me a mentor who can guide me in a biblical way, who can give me sound spiritual wisdom. Or if there is a younger person I can help in that way, lead me in that. Let me serve in my own family in this way. Let me always be a wise influence.
Author: Lindsay Hislop was raised in southern Scotland and southern Ontario and now lives in the southern United States. He worked in the engineering field for 15 years (mostly in Canada) before pursuing an academic career. He has taught for over thirty years at Columbia International University. He also serves as an elder in his church, where he teaches and preaches regularly. He is married to a wonderful wife Pam and has two terrific children, Holly, who lives in Canada, and Doug, who lives in Columbia. His four grandchildren, Isaac, Madeline, Lindsay, and Dolan, are also pretty special. He likes doing carpentry and odd jobs around the house.
