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Day 22 Proverbs 10 Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. What is a proverb? Strong’s Hebrew describes it this way: 04912. lvm mashal, maw-shawl' apparently from 4910 in some original sense of superiority in mental action; properly, a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse):--byword, like, parable, proverb. 04910. lvm mashal, maw-shal' a primitive root; to rule:--(have, make to have) dominion, governor, X indeed, reign, (bear, cause to, have) rule(-ing, -r), have power. So then a proverb is a maxim, a metaphor. Many countries have their proverbs or metaphors to give wisdom to their people. Solomon is best known for his proverbs. 1 Kings 4:30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. 32 And he spoke three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. (KJV) God imparted wisdom to Solomon because he asked for wisdom to rule God’s people, and to show mankind what God expects of us. After Solomon’s instructions to his son about how he should live his life free from the bondage of strange women, staying away from people who will bring him down, and telling him the origin of wisdom and wisdom’s purpose, he turned his attention to how a person should conduct their lives. Solomon starts out by showing his son what makes a parent happy and sad. A wise son makes a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. From the moment of our birth our parents do their best to instill in us the concepts of right and wrong. Therefore, wisdom causes us to obey our parents, but disobedience causes our mothers heartache and sorrow. Why would it not cause the same in fathers? It was the custom in that time, and still is today in many countries, that the mother is the one who taught the child, raising him or her to respect his or her father at all times in everything they say and do. So then, when a child was disobedient to their father, it brought a greater heaviness to the mother because she was the one tried to instill obedience in the child. That is not to say the father did not share in the heaviness. It is plain he did because when he was obedient, the father was glad, happy, and proud of his child and boasted about him or her to everyone he encountered. We are all God’s children and he is our Father. When we obey him, he boasts about us, but when we are disobedient, he must discipline us just as our earthly fathers do. When God brought his people out of Egypt he tested them in the wilderness to see if they would obey him. When they grumbled and complained, he disciplined them. When they obeyed him, he brought victories in their lives. As Christians, God sees us as his children as well, and we see him as our Father. Therefore, we need to be obedient to God as our Father, just as the children of Israel need to be obedient to God as their Father. Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. 7 If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye illegitimate, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Nobody likes discipline, yet it is in discipline we know our parents love us and we want to be obedient to our parents in order to reap the rewards of their boast of us. God boasts about us and rejoices over us when we are obedient to him. Jeremiah 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. (KJV) Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. (KJV) God rejoices over you when you are obedient to him. Don’t you feel a special pride when your parents are happy with you and boast about you to everyone they know? In the same way, God boasts about you when you are obedient to him. There is no joy in disobedience only in obedience. Let’s pray: Father, help me to be obedient to you so you will rejoice over me and boast about me and I will reap the rewards of an obedient life in you. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 28 September 2016 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay