The Wisdom of Fathers

Proverbs 4:2

I (a father, see v.1) give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching.

As a father, I can relate to this advice.  This is the advice I give to my own son.  The problem is that this advice is exactly what I arrogantly rejected for much of my youth.  I insisted on making every mistake myself.  It is only as I have matured, finally...more or less, that I appreciate the wisdom of this Proverb.

My father tried to share the wisdom he had learned through his own mistakes and doing dumb stuff.  Unfortunately, I was way too smart to listen to any of that, I knew I was way smarter than that.  So I went off and made the same mistakes and did the same dumb stuff.  My dumb stuff didn't look exactly the same, it rarely does; but it could have been avoided had I been humble enough to learn from someone who was born thirty years before I was, and who loved me and wanted to see me succeed in life.

This is an interesting analogy to how we all act towards our Heavenly Father.  

He has given all of us sound learning in His Word, the Bible.  He has even commanded us not to forsake His teaching.  But what do we do?

We, at times, totally disregard His sound learning.  Instead we do our own thing.  After all we're smart enough.  We got this.  Don't you know who I am?   This is too often the arrogant, sinful attitude that we repay our loving Father with.  We foolishly underestimate Satan's power of deception:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.  He said to the woman, "Did God really say...?"  (Genesis 3:1)

As Christians, this is the choice we are faced with every day:  obey God or listen to Satan.

(This is only true for Christians.  Non-Christians do not have this choice.  They cannot obey God.  Every inclination of their thoughts is only evil all the time. [Genesis 6:5]  and  

...everything that does not come from faith is sin. [Romans 14:23]   Anyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ as the risen Lord and Savior, is a child of Satan.  They are spiritually dead and cannot choose to do anything that pleases God.

...the sinful mind is hostile towards God.  It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. [Romans 8:7-8]

If this little sidebar describes you, don't worry.  There is hope.  Let me finish my thought for the Christians and then we'll talk about the hope that there is to lead you out of the darkness and into the light.)

Like Eve, if we choose to please ourselves or chase after our own selfish desires, we have chosen to listen to Satan.  We have doubted God's love and faithfulness.  

How can we know if we are listening to God, or to Satan?

Easy.  Read, study and immerse yourself in God's Word.  It is in the Bible where our Heavenly Father gives us His sound learning.  If what we want to do goes against what Scripture teaches, then we have our answer.  The answer is always in God's Word.  Whether we want to hear His answer or not, it's always there.  We have to submit ourselves to the Lord and His Word by reading it and listening to it.  Reading the Bible has little value if you're not going to do what God says.  

Don't worry unbelievers, I didn't forget about you.  Here's the hope (it's the same as that of believers):

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. (John 3:16-17)

Yes, we all do dumb stuff.  Yes, we all rebel and sin against God.  But through the blood of Jesus we are forgiven.  Jesus Christ paid the price, in full, for all of the sins of all people.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith... (Ephesians 2:8)  

God bless

Jason Fredrick