My son, keep your father’s command, and do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart; tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you; when you sleep, they will keep you; and when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life[.] Proverbs 6: 20-23, NKJV.
Today dear God, we give You thanks for Your love that knows no end! Please help us to dwell secure in that love, always. Please speak to our hearts as we study Your Word; in the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Today we will meditate on the closing words of this text, “For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, reproofs of instruction are the way of life[.]” Sometimes youth find themselves walking in the darkness of “their own way.” They leave the light provided by the instruction received at home and wander “to a far country” (13b). Usually, in this “far country,” they find themselves in a situation of, the blind leading the blind (Matthew 5: 14). Surrounded by their peers, together, they grope in darkness. Nevertheless, because light cannot remain hidden for very long, the “reproofs of instruction” that they received as children, eventually, sheds light upon their path! This was the lamp that lit the way for the Prodigal Son to find his way back home.
The young man’s words to his father, as he left home, were ” ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ ” The words that he had planned to say to his father, after he ‘came to his senses’ and was returning home, were: ” ‘ “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ ” Note the difference in attitude, when he was leaving home: “give me what is rightly mine.” After he returned: “I do not deserve anything!” You see my friends, when we are in room that is full of natural light that is a part of our surroundings, we cannot appreciate the auxiliary light that emanates from a lamp.
All of his life he had lived with the light of his parent’s teachings surrounding, and protecting him, so he did not feel the need for a lamp to shed light upon his path. But the farther he wandered from home, the darker his surroundings became; until darkness overcame him. Have you ever heard someone exclaim: “At last the light bulb came on!” We usually mean, “At last I see the light.” Many times, as youth, we never see the light in what our parents are trying to teach us, until “our own way” leave us sitting in the dark.
Thank God, that even the darkness, in the hands of God, can serve the positive purpose, of helping us “come to our senses.” Dear young man, and young woman, as parents, we desire the best for you. The only reason we hold on to what you consider “rightly” yours, is because, from our own experience, we know that if you are not ready for life, you could take what is designed to be a blessing to you, and do as the Prodigal Son did, when he “squandered his wealth in wild living” (13c); and like him, live to regret it.
So the next time you receive “reproofs of instruction,” just remember, that they are “the way of life[.]”