What advice from your parents do you remember the most? Maybe some of us will be able to answer it quickly, while others will try to remember it with teary eyes because they are gone. But what we can all agree on is that parents often pour out their love through the advice they give to their children. Unfortunately, when we are children, we often ignore the advice, perhaps only remembering and feeling the echo when we are older and experience firsthand the situation that the advice is targeting.
This time the wisdom speech in Proverbs also places itself in the context of a father's upbringing and advice. At that time, the male-centered patriarchal cultural system placed the father as the main leader of the family. From the father came important decisions in the family, including the teaching of his children. The father's advice in our reading begins with the following words, "Let your heart take hold of my words; hold fast to my instructions, and you will live." The heart is the center of understanding. In the ancient Israelite mindset, the heart was associated with consciousness, understanding/wisdom, as well as the part of man that is connected to Him and leads to goodness.
The heart of man is the center of his life, so guard it with care (v. 23).
The heart of man is the center of his life, so guard it with care (v. 23).
After his introduction, the exhortations continued. Some of the points expressed in our reading this time are about the call to honor, pursue, and attain wisdom, and to avoid the ways of the wicked. From this argumentation, we see that the pursuit of wisdom will lead to right morality and complete worship of God. The wicked, on the other hand, are those who ignore wisdom and walk in the path of wickedness and the relentless pursuit of fulfillment of lust. Those who pursue wisdom are the righteous whose paths are filled with light. The way of the wicked is darkness in which one falls because of stumbling. The father then pleaded with his son to listen intently. Remembering the above advice as a guideline for his life to stay away from evil (v.27).
Friends of the Bible, just like the love of a father and mother, God also wants us to live holy and righteous lives. Today we are taught to take the way of wisdom that leads to righteousness and ignore the way of the wicked who are full of glorification and justification of their lusts. If we think about it more deeply, isn't that the outline of every parent's advice? So let us submit to that advice and stick to what is right. It may not be easy, but in a world of chaos and upside-down morality, it is our only option to be His obedient and faithful children.
