Obey the Wise Instruction of Your Parents!

Proverbs 6

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, October 10.

Parental wisdom is not just for the first eighteen years of life. We need our parents, and our parents need us, our whole lives. The parent-child relationship is a permanent one, even if there is the necessary “leaving and cleaving” process that accompanies marriage (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Ephesians 5:31). Adult children, single or married, are not to leave behind the wisdom of their parents, as we need their instruction to thrive in adulthood. In Proverbs 6, Solomon provided godly counsel to his students, as a parent to a child, including direction on financial stewardship (1-5), work ethic (6-11), personal character (12-19) and sexual ethics (24-35). He summarized the heart of his instruction, in Proverbs 6:20-23:

My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life.

Paul explained the importance of this wisdom in Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth” (cf. Colossians 3:20). Paul quoted from the fifth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16), emphasizing the promise of life when one lived according to God’s commands. Unfortunately, we have reduced Paul’s teaching to a parenting exhortation to young children. Parenting is intended to be the life-long process of passing onGod’s wisdom from one generation to the next.

Seize the moment and apply the wisdom of Proverbs 6: obey the wise instruction of your parents and experience the blessing of God’s commands!