THE WORDS OF THE FATHER

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. 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 cost 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.”

Proverbs 4:1-9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s been just a few days since the anniversary of my father’s death. The Lord called for him two years ago after a good life which provided my Dad the opportunity to work hard and earn a living for his family which included a beautiful wife and five children, three girls and two boys.

I was the oldest child and thus got to spend the most years with my father. He was always there for me, always my greatest supporter, ever available to offer me sage counsel when I needed it. All I needed to do was pick up the phone and call Dad and he was there for me, and now that I am a father myself, I have tried to be the same for my two daughters.

Solomon, the author of Proverbs, had a pretty great father himself, a king named David. You may have heard of him. He was none other than the greatest king that Israel ever had, hand-selected and anointed by the Lord largely because he was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Read through the wonderful Book of Psalms and you will find many of them are written by David (73 are directly connected to him), words of thanksgiving and praise to God for all He has done, all He is doing, and all He is yet to do. Indeed, David left many words of wisdom for his son to refer back to and reflect on and as we see in the opening verses of Proverbs, Chapter 4, Solomon remembered the words of his father and sought in his life to respect them by putting them into practice in his own life and sharing them with us so we can do likewise. Look again at our scripture passage:

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. 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 cost 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.”

Do you remember what Solomon asked for as he was assuming the throne of Israel in place of his father David? God was ready to give him whatever he asked for and that could have been anything the world offered. Let’s recall how Solomon responded:

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.”

Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.”

“Now, Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give Your servant a discerning heart to govern Your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.” 1 Kings  3:5-12

David had encouraged Solomon to take hold of his words with all his heart and as we have read, Solomon did just that. David told him to get wisdom and understanding, to make it his first priority as he lived and ruled Israel. If he did, then he would find not only life but protection, love, exaltation, and honor.

And so when God presented Solomon with the opportunity to have anything, he didn’t go after riches or power or ask for becoming the greatest empire ever. No, Solomon remembered the words of his father and in turn asked God for discerning heart to govern Israel and distinguish between right and wrong. In other words, he asked for wisdom and God gave him just that so that Solomon would be wiser than anyone else who ever follow him.

Today, we’re all blessed to enjoy the fruits of Solomon’s decision to be obedient to his father’s words. For Solomon went on to write this Book of Proverbs, a book that exudes wisdom from beginning to end. You see, Solomon, like his father, was not willing to allow his words of wisdom die off and so he shared them, not just with his offspring, but with all of mankind who would follow. We should be grateful for this but there is one last thing we should be even more grateful for.

I say this because the words of Solomon were none other than the words of his heavenly Father. For God imparted His divine wisdom on Solomon and then Solomon in turn shared it with others. That’s how it’s supposed to work. We’re to be instruments of God’s will in every way to include being His public address system that He uses to speak. And when we do speak the very words of God, speaking wisely and in a way that makes a difference in the life of another, then God the Father is magnified and glorified and praised. He becomes what He should be – the object of our affection.

This is the motivation behind this ministry, The Christian Walk. It’s about seeking, receiving, and sharing wisdom from the words of the Father and I’m humbled that God has chosen me to speak through each day through these writings. As we continue to walk through all the words of the Father, words that overflow and come to life from the Holy Bible, I pray that you, like Solomon, will follow the encouragement of his father David and embrace and cherish wisdom, that you will search out and get understanding from the words of the Father.

Have a blessed day in His holy name.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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