Chapter 4.
Wisdom at any Cost. "Listen my sons, to a father's instructions." Before androcentric thoughts infiltrate your mind, please remember we have spent the past three days establishing that Wisdom is Effeminate. "Listen my sons, to a father's instructions." Sons are to follow the lead of their fathers to gain wisdom, longevity, peace, understanding, goodness, humility, strength, and safety. On Sons to Fathers. This is pretty straight forward. Sons need to follow the lead of their father. On Fathers and Sons (and daughters)... This is infinitely more complicated: Clearly, The father and son metaphor is strong throughout scripture. Solomon is telling us that as sons we are to seek Wisdom in and through our heavenly Father. Absolutely. The onus of this relationship lies solely with the son. There is no imperfect leadership through our heavenly Father. Wisdom is always available through the Lord. ..heck, he left us a book. To interpret the text more literally we refer to the familial father of sons, the patriarch, real men of flesh and blood, imperfect men. Fathers are corruptible, fathers struggle, fathers make mistakes, are wrong, and we do things we regret. Fathers struggle with Wisdom they are ordained with original sin and faced with daily temptation. God took this particular yoke of responsibility and flopped it square upon the shoulders of fathers. There is no escape from this yoke, this responsibility cannot be shirked. Our Children see everything, they learn from everything we do. The responsibility of the father is to cultivate intentional lessons and demonstrate adherence to the path of the righteous. Joshua 24:15 "As for Me and My House, We will serve the Lord." The responsibility is great. We have learned from our fathers and forefathers, we have been guided along the path to Wisdom. Wisdom is a legacy. Fathers are charged with preserving this legacy. Fortunately, we don't have to do it alone. If we are Wise, we will leverage our friends, we will cultivate mentorships, we will study, we will learn, and we will grow in Wisdom for the betterment of our children. Fortunately, he left us a book.
0 Comments
|
The Proverbs Project is intended to be a daily personal reflection on the wisdom of Solomon. We reflect on a book of Proverbs that corresponds with the date of the month. ArchivesCategories |