Neglecting can be healthy if you Listen!

Probing Proverbs: 1:8-9 My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck

My oldest brother has always been a bit of a genius. Once, when I was 17, I stayed at his house. They had a bed in their basement that I could crash on. It was winter, so the next morning he asked me if I was cold the night before. I said yes. He then turned to his wife and said, “Please run a load of clothes today and use the dryer when Nate gets home.” I was confused, but said nothing. That night I was getting ready for bed; it was cold. Then suddenly I felt some real nice heat. I found a vent where the heat was coming from. My sleep was very comfortable. The next morning I asked him where the heat had originated from. He showed me how he had cut a hole in his wall, and placed the hose from the clothes dryer to it. When they ran the dryer, moist, hot air came into the house! This was way before the stores had thought of this! It was so simple, yet most of us would never think of it. That is the secret of real Truth…it is simple.

It’s amazing to me when I find young people that say they love the Lord and want to please Him, that do not understand how simple it is to do. Many think of dynamic preaching, or dying on a very difficult mission field. Becoming a great Bible scholar or accomplishing some other great thing in the world for the Lord. Yet, here we have in this Proverb the simplicity of God’s Truth!

All He asks is that a child “listen” to the correction of their father, and don’t “neglect” what your mother has taught you! This does require humility, because no one likes to be told they are wrong. It also requires proactive thinking, we have to consciously think about what our mother taught us and compare that to what we are thinking about doing! 

Notice what the reward will be: A Crown of grace and a chain of honor! Obviously God is not focused on a physical reward; that kind of jewelry will fade and burn in time. The crown is the grace of God that people will see in your life. Your character will be clear to be seen by all, just as if you were wearing a physical crown. Also, those that know you, because they see your integrity and your wisdom, will honor you. Just as though you were wearing a beautiful necklace, they will see by the walk of your life what kind of person you are and they will respect that.

By the way, I have experienced this even with those that do not agree with my faith, and even by some that think the Bible is silly. Everyone can deny what you say, but they cannot deny what you are!

So we see here how simple it is to please God and receive His rewards. Wait! Let’s not rush past this for those of us that are adults! Do not be content to read this and say, “Amen,” the children need to hear this, and then move on. Are we all not the children of God? Is God not in reality our Spiritual Father and Mother? “Mother?” you say? God refers to Himself always in the masculine, but communicates His love and care for us many times using a famine example:

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

Isaiah 49:14–15 Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.” “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!

God is neither male nor female as we think of that concept. God is God! The pronouns He uses to express His essence are masculine, but to illustrate love, commitment and other qualities toward us, He employs motherhood also.

So this Proverb does not only speak to human children of human parents, but of us to God as our spiritual Parent. Let’s consider what He is admonishing us to do and His promise of rewards.

He tells us to “listen” to His correction. The word, “listen” in the original means “to pay attention to and put into practice.” So this is far more than just hearing! We are to DO what we hear.

The word, “neglect” means to push away or reject. Now we are seeing an opposite action that will lead to wrong behavior.

So we see two admonitions that open the door for two actions. One we should do = when we hear how God is telling us to correct our life, we should do it. The other is communicating to us to NOT push away the instructions on life that God gives us.

Many of us struggle with this; I know I do. The Holy Spirit desires to move us to recognize we need to quiet our life, meditate so we can listen to His voice. Distractions make it easy not to hear God’s promptings. We also need to be proactive to do what those promptings are communicating. We should embrace the Truths of God’s Word, never ignore or push them away.

If we do what this Proverb exhorts is, God will reward us with His grace in our life. It will be so clear in our lives that others will see it! This will also bring us honor, from both God and man! Our Father loves to honor us when we do what is right! Those around us will appreciate the godly character they see in us and honor that.

What is so wonderful is that this is not as complicated as our Flesh tries to make it seem. Paul shared the secret to accomplishing what this Proverb exhorts us to do:

Acts 20:24  “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

That’s it! Just finish the race God has called you to! Not someone else’s race! If we do that, then we are listening and not neglecting! The call of God is founded in simplicity! Thank Him for that!

“The so what?”

When you hear the Lord convict you about an area of your life, how do you respond? Do you “pick and choose” what Truths of God you will obey or not? Do you push away thoughts that would lead you to deny what your flesh wants? What is the final goal of your life? How are you doing?