Proverbs 13
A wise son heareth his father’s instruction;. but, we may say this is not much seen in our day! True, and the consequences of slighting the parents’ authority and advice are very evident in the world today, too.
Again we have a chapter full of forcible contrasts, pointing out in nearly every verse the way of life and happiness; and the way of sin and death. Note that the soul of the diligent shall be made fat (verse 4). May God stir up His people to redeem the time.
Righteousness keeps (preserves) him that is upright in the way; but wickedness overthrows the sinner (verse 6). Thus a man is consciously or unconsciously building for the future, for good or for evil. As he shall have sown, so shall he also reap, for God declares it.
Verse 7 is rightly read “There is that feigneth himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” In a spiritual sense this is illustrated by the address to Laodicea (Revelation 3:1717Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:17)), and that to Smyrna (Revelation 2:99I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9)), but we do not doubt that the immediate application is to the natural life. Pretence and reality are in contrast.
The 13th verse contains an important principle with regard to God’s Word;
“Whoso despiseth the Word shall be destroyed” (more correctly translated, shall be held accountable by it); but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded!” The Bible is God’s Word, and they who make light of it, do so at their peril; contrariwise, they who walk in its light are blessed in the way. So the law for teaching) of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death (verse 14). And poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction, but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored (verse 18).
Does not verse 19 point to the Lord’s statement to Nicodemus in John 3: “Ye must be born again” ? Verse 20 conveys a warning to the young (and the old, too) to avoid the company of sinners, while pointing to the gain from keeping company with the wise, i. e., those who have wisdom from God.
It is a modern thought that a child should be allowed to develop without any attention from his parents. Has the present astonishing growth of youthful crime, the prisons and penitentiaries now filled with those barely into their twenties, nothing to do with the new ideas?
Christian parents may well conclude that what God has said in the Proverbs about the training of children is still the best. “He that spareth his rod, hateth his son; but he that loveth him seeketh him early (or earnestly) with discipline” (verse 24 literally translated).
Messages of God’s Love 6/19/1932