Negated Redundancy

Proverbs 3:1-2 say, “My son, do not forget my teaching/ But let your heart keep my commandments/ 2 For length of days and years of life/ And peace they will add to you.”

Proverbs is crazy about this idea of a young person listening to an older person. Why? Because that’s what the whole book is about. It’s a book for the simple to no longer be simple minded. Often times in this book, he relates the young with the simple, basically because they are inexperienced. The older are wiser because they have more experience and have seen things young people have yet to see.

However, this repeated phrase does not repeat itself in my heart. Can I be honest? I don’t listen to my parents as much as I should on certain subjects. Not because I hate them, but I guess it is because my degree of love towards them isn’t as much as it should be. To explain, if anyone asked me if I loved my parents, I would, without a doubt, say I do, but the question still remains, how much? Do I love them enough to do what they ask all the time, even when I don’t see the logic behind it.

I think the biggest issue we have is on the subject of girls and how to, in a sense, “deal” with them (Please don’t take that as a sexist remark). My dad, when he was in high school and in college, dated a lot of girls, and since then, he has completely changed his mind about the idea of dating, and that we shouldn’t until we were ready to be committed to someone for the rest of our lives. When he tells us to stay as far away from girls as possible, it’s really hard for me to see what that means, because I don’t know what it really looks like, because he didn’t do it when he was my age, but that is no excuse.

Previously, I had a choice to hang out with a really good friend of mine, who was a girl, and her family, and my parents said I shouldn’t, but the choice was up to me if I still would. Unlike Proverbs repeats over and over again, I went to go hang out. It wasn’t a sin in the sense that I was disobeying my parents, but it was considering that I should have been listening to what they were saying. It may not seem like a huge deal to have a different opinion with your parents, but it does split the relationship.

Look back up to the verse again. Do you see the part where it says, “keep my commandments”? Yeah, that’s pretty important. Do we have possession of the Word of God and our parents, or do we remember a few things and the let everything else kind of slip off? Is this you? Because I know it’s me. I don’t the teachings of my parents are in my heart, nor do I think I respect them or even fear them enough to obey what they have to say. I’ve struggled with this my whole life, but last night, I had a really good talk with my mom about different things going on in my life. And I listened.

I pray that you hear the cry of Wisdom in Proverbs 9:4-6, “4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here! To him who lacks understanding she says, 5 Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed. 6 Forsake your folly and live, And proceed in the way of understanding.”