Proverbs 4 A SATISFIED LIFE We need to have clear boundaries for our lives in order to have an abundant life and escape the latent dangers in life that are all around us. When we pay attention to those who care most for us, then we can experience contentment in life even when everything in the world seems to be coming apart socially, morally and spiritually. The words in this chapter are similar to the previous chapters except for the fact that here it is an earthly father who is transmitting truth to his son. The Lord is not mentioned in this chapter even though we can see His influence in every comment the father makes. As an earthly father, I am responsible to my children and my God to make sure I have taught truth for living and the truth of salvation in an understandable way. Hopefully our children will be willing to accept what we say as the truth of God. The best time to start teaching truth is as soon as they are born. More than half of what a person will learn in life they will have learn by the age of ten.
The first nine verses begin with the father calling to his children to “Listen to your father, and you will enjoy abundant life.” The teaching he gave to his son he learned from his father. Solomon was taught positive teaching by his parents from an early age. Our young children are like sponges that gather information even when it doesn’t seem like they are paying attention to us. Each generation is responsible to pass on to the next generation the fundamental truths they were taught by the generation before them, who were taught by the generation before them.
“Good doctrine” is good teaching that covers all aspects of life and the practice of right living. As parents we have the privilege of speaking for God to our children if we know the Lord. Young children who do not have believing parents are deprived of one of the most fundamental necessities of life. Probably even worse is Christian parents who don’t take the time to give instruction from their own Christian life, or at least from the Bible. Bible-reading with the family and audible prayers are likely the best way to give impressionable children a good start in life. They may not get much at one time, but when words from God in that Holy Bible are read and explained, the Holy Spirit of God can take it from there and reveal it to young minds at the right time.
Both parents are involved when their children are at a young age, “my father’s son, tender and beloved in the sight of my mother.” It is important that we urge our young people to spare no effort to get what wisdom teaches them through parental guidance and then to guard what they have been taught, and obey it consistently. If we as adults go after wisdom, then we can expect our children to do the same and hopefully they will not forget what they learned. We should never be careless with truth that we have learned. Our sons and daughters need to know and practice what they have been taught and they will not be disgraced.
Wisdom is the starting point, so they must be taught to go after wisdom with the same urgency we have to seek the Lord. “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found…” Esteem wisdom and you will be promoted by wisdom before those who know you. Honor wisdom and wisdom will honor you. Faithfulness to wisdom, personified in our Lord Jesus Christ, will be rewarded. Your reputation will be respected. Your character will be enhanced. Your integrity will be such that you will be trusted by people now in this lifetime, let alone the future reward that comes from God. We must pass on the legacy of wisdom to our children that we learned from those who passed it on to us.
The next ten verses urge the son to “Listen to your father, and you will escape the dangers in life.” When a son obeys his parents, and applies what he has learned from them, he will avoid things that shorten life. Honoring parents is more than just taking your hat off or saying, “Yes.” It is following the training his father gave who “led” him in right paths. In other words, the father practiced what he taught. That involves being consistent in what we teach and do as well as being humble in the practice of everyday life. If a person does what they have learned from good teachers, they will not fail in their work and will not stumble when they are under pressure to conform to those around them. When you make what you have learned to be right, your own commitment, you will live a full and safe life. Hold what you have learned, and don’t drop your guard.
We are in the world but not of the world. We can be friendly without compromising our convictions and commitments. We should be gracious in words and actions without a sense of pride or arrogance. It is possible to love people, including those who oppose us, without surrendering any principles by which children of God are to live. Truthfulness without deceit is not obnoxious, and it generates respect. Separation from evil and those who want to do what is wrong is very important. Some things we are not to go near, let alone touch. The word to the son is to “enter not,” don’t even try the door of the wicked. Don’t even go by the place to see what is going on, even though you keep your distance. Avoid the temptation of doing what others do by going a different way. Make sure you don’t pass by the door of temptation, turn your head the other way from what is wrong and keep your distance as far as possible from things you know do not please God. Stay off the road that leads to such a place of temptation.
Wicked people want to do evil. That is their life. They plan for doing evil, and they prepare themselves to carry out their plans because they really like to do evil and enjoy what is evil. Evil living becomes a habit and then an addiction to those who go back again and again to what they know is wrong. It becomes like food and drink to them. They need it to sustain life as they know it. We can care for people and their immortal souls, but we need to still be skeptical about their behavior and not join in with what they want us to do with them.
The contrast between the wicked and the just is like day and night. Those who are not saved and refuse to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, “love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” On the other hand, we are called upon to “walk in the light, as He is in the light, and we have fellowship one with another,” with those who are like precious faith and with our Lord Himself. For those who walk the path of “the just,” that which is fair, honorable and true, there is light that continues to show the right way before us, and through us to others. Keep doing that which is right and just, and your testimony will be brighter and brighter as your walk of faith progresses. In contrast, the path of the wicked gets darker and darker as they fall over and over again.
The last eight verses of this chapter, for the third time is the call of a parent to the son to “Listen to your father, and you will experience contentment in life.” The father is basically saying, pay attention to what I have told you and apply it to yourself. Don’t forget the advice I am passing on to you from my own experience, and this is from my heart. What he had to say to his son was good for him spiritually and physically.
What our mind feeds on is what we will actually become, and will characterize our lives. Therefore, it is very important for us to guard what we allow ourselves to think about, let alone do. Never speak dishonestly. Never try to deceive people or even to mislead them by the way we speak. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” our Lord Jesus said to those who were critical of Him. Whatever is in us is what will come out in our speech if we do not guard our tongues.
There are a lot of things that attract our eyes, and much of it can pollute our minds. I need to think about what I am going to read or look at on a TV or a computer before I even start to open them up. Our eyes are one of the entrances to our soul and what goes in, is indelibly impressed on our brains, and can come back to bite us or even ruin us. We need to consecrate everything to that which is of God, and not be led astray by those visible things that attract us and make us dissatisfied.
Our feet have an inclination to go the wrong way if we are not being constantly guided by the word of God and biblical principles of living. I should never go anywhere I could not take my Lord if He were here with me in His physical presence. I should never be comfortable where known sin is going on, nor should I let anything tempt me to leave the paths of righteousness and a pure and decent life. We need clear boundaries for our lives that will keep us from going after all we see. I should never allow myself to get sidetracked.
When we keep our heart and control our emotions, when we speak the truth and speak it in love, when we keep our eyes on the Lord and the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and when we commit ourselves to keep our feet on the paths of righteousness and maintain a godly lifestyle, we will enjoy the abundant life and all that is associated with eternal life here. We will escape being overcome by the dangers in life, and we will be contented and fruitful in every good work.