Series in Proverbs - The Discipline of a Father and Mother

        

The Discipline of a Father and Mother

Proverbs 4:1-9

The word instruction in Hebrew (mu·sar) means discipline, moral and spiritual development. For the discipline of Solomon is not punishment but instructive, a nurturing of his children by the correct application and instructive method of receiving knowledge. It is the application for living a sound and healthy life in the eyes of our Holy and Almighty God and mankind. Solomon again instructs his children to listen to his words and apply them for a disciplined Godly life. So let’s read the first portion of today's text. “Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, ‘Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.’” (NIV)

The act of discipline that Solomoon desires out of his children, is the discipline of listening and obedience. For the fallen nature of the nations around them are void of listening and obedience skills because of their sinful nature: hard-headedness and hard-heartedness, rebellion, and a complete lack of godly moral training. Solomon learned from his father, David, the art of listening and obedience, especially to the law and the commands of God, and to the instruction of his father and mother. The world around Solomon was nugatory or valueless. Solomon himself had experienced the vanity and meaninglessness of what the world considered most important in his writings in Ecclesiastes.

In the words of this proverb, you can imagine Solomon and his four sons sitting in a room or on a portico. Solomon reflects on his own time in the palace of King David when he was the oldest of his mother’s child but yet young, sitting in a room or out in the hills of Jerusalem, listening attentively to his father’s commands and lessons from the Law of God and David’s own personal interactions with God. David often wrote about his instructions and disciplining by God for gaining understanding in the Psalms. Both David and Bathesheba understood the importance of a disciplined life, to take hold of the Word of God and keep its commands and moral laws. The Hebrew word hold (Tāmakh) means to hold fast, grasp and lay hold of. It was to grasp the treasured gifts of God: wisdom, understanding, and discernment for they would teach them and keep them in the fear of the Lord as they lived.

Application - I can remember teaching my children scripture verses that they memorized and used in their lives and with their own children. And the discipline of listening and obedience are of great importance and much needed in the development of a person’s moral and spiritual development, this is the discipline that God desires for everyone of His children. We are to grasp and hold tightly to the treasures of God, the wisdom, understanding, and discernment from His Word and Spirit. I think of parents, fathers or mothers who take their child by the hand and lead them in, teach them, and read the moral laws and spiritual instruction of sound doctrine from God’s Word to attentive little ears. 

I was amazed as a pastor at how few children in my small community really knew any sound teachings from scripture to guide them. And even fewer parents who spent time talking to and with their children about the spiritual nourishment of holding on to the teachings of God from the scripture. There was little listening at home and many times even less obedience, from either the parents or their progeny. The art of listening seems lost today with the overuse of technology. Enough said.

When I believed in the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord in my life, one of the first things that God told me to do was to raise my children in the ways of God. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deut. 6:6-8 NIV) For I had been just like the parents that I had seen in my later community. I wept for my lack of wisdom and understanding, and I was agasp at how little my children knew of the discipline of listening and understanding of God’s word and His ways when they were young. For the obedience they knew came not through the hands of a godly Father, but through the hands of a man who knew little of the discipline in God’s manner. Things changed drastically in our home as Dad took the lead and began to discipline in righteous teachings of God and in the shaping and molding of the hearts of my children who would later train their own children in the discipline of wisdom, understanding, and godly discernment, and the importance of living a godly life.

Next, Solomon continues to instill the grave importance of wisdom, understanding, and discernment especially in the instructing of sound teaching and doctrine. So let’s read the last portion of the text. “Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.”

The discipline of retaining not only the words of his father’s teachings but the actual comprehension and the application, the grasping of the underlying principles and concepts of God’s ways and commands were earnest in Solomon's mind and heart. This is the discipline that Solomon desires to instill in his children. 

They weren’t to just rotely memorize the teaching from God but grasp the wisdom and understanding of God’s intent and purposes. For it was easy to lose focus and retention of wisdom, understanding, and forsake the treasure nuggets from God. For it wasn’t just knowledge that Solomon or God for that fact desired of his children. For it was wisdom that would protect them from the spiritual enemy’s snares and the waywardness of the world. Wisdom would alert their eyes and ears as a guardian from God. Second, the cost factor for obtaining the discipline of wisdom and understanding came at a price, they were to cherish (aw-hab' - to love with great affection) wisdom from God and exalt and embrace her as the treasure she was. Wisdom would not only protect them but would exalt them before God and the world with a garland of God’s grace and a glorious crown to be rewarded.

Application - Again, God wants us all to obtain His wisdom and He will give us the understanding and discernment to live godly lives. For I know that we can fill our lives with pursuits of various kinds, justifying them and yet lose focus of wisdom and forsake the instruction from God that protects us and watches over us. We all have the same amount of time each day, it is just how we use it. God is willingly ready and able to give us wisdom if we would only ask Him, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." (James 1:5 NIV)

Let us seek God today, let us teach our children, grandchildren, and our family the ways of God. Let us love wisdom and understanding and let it bind us together as a family, for wisdom is of great worth, as an invaluable treasure of grace and a glorious crown upon our head (mind and thoughts). Let us discipline our lives with listening and obedience to His Word and His salvation. “Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.” (Prov. 29:17 NIV)

As always, I want to end with presenting the gospel in the form of the ABC’s of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ for salvation. For Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

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