Proverbs 1:8, 9

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck ~ Proverbs 1: 8, 9

Apparently, an Israelite thought a garland placed around the head, and a gold chain around the neck were the highest signs of glory. Today we give medals and ribbons when someone has won the victory in a race, or on a project, but I have never heard of our sons or daughters thinking our instruction as parents equaled such a prize. In fact, as I wrote the other day, it is most often that our young people think they have all the answers and can figure life out without our advice. I am thankful that my children, though they have made mistakes sometimes with high learning costs, have grown to be remarkable young people. But how much easier life would have been for us all if we had always heeded the words of our parents and elders. Perhaps we should begin the process of adorning the necks of our young people when they make wise choices and listen to good advice. Most certainly, our mistakes could help them avoid some of their own problems, would they not? What happens though, when a parent or an elder cannot give good advice because their life is so broken apart? Perhaps that is what is afflicting our world so much now. Broken parents bring broken children into a broken world because they have forsaken the God of the Bible. Many children today do not have a father figure in the home to give them advice. This is a sad state for all. I love the fact that when that situation occurs within a family, God is available as the Father. But, only if the family looks to Him for advice. Jesus came to heal our broken lives, our broken hearts, our broken soul. He is the only Father that loves us so much that He died for us. Luke 11:13 reminds us of this as he writes, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” God is our parent, our Father and Mother, our brother, our family. If I am to be crowned for listening to advice, it is His crown I desire to receive.

Pastor Julia