DAILY WORD 9/7/21

20. Sensible children bring joy to their father; foolish children despise their mother.

Proverbs 15:20 NLT

Today’s Passage is another Proverb from the wisest man that ever lived, this time profiling the relationship between a child and their parents. We can glean much from this Verse if we look a little more deeply into its depths.

Having yet to father a child, I cannot relate to the joy or disappointment a child can bring to a father from that perspective. However, I can speak to the distress, displeasure, and discontent that a wayward son and his bad decisions can cause his parents.

Throughout my life, I’m not too sure how many times I’ve been referred to as “sensible.” Some of the decisions that I’ve made have certainly caused my parents frustration and even anger. Wisdom has not always been my base of operations, and it unquestionably wasn’t my starting point.

As a young man, I lived my life not for my parent’s pleasure but for my own experience, and that preference has led to some severe setbacks, fantastic failures, and plenty of bad choices.

But here’s the thing, those choices didn’t only affect me. They had a decided impact on those around me, not the least of which being my parents. I can say of assurance that many of my choices did not bring my father joy because they were not sensible choices. That being said, I wouldn’t go as far as to call myself foolish, at least not by the definition contained within this Verse.

Though I didn’t always agree with or enjoy the actions or reactions of my parents, I did not despise them for their responses to my poor choices. I mean, who could blame them for being upset or disappointed by some of the things I’ve done? Certainly not me!

Making good choices as an inexperienced child is often difficult, especially when one refuses the Wise Counsel offered to them. It’s a gamble at best, a shot in the dark. Only experience, which is often won at a very high price, can get you to the point of consistently effective decision making, and that takes time and effort to achieve.

Not everyone is interested in making their parents proud. They are so selfish in their aims that they couldn’t be bothered with how their actions make those around them feel or their reactions to their results.

We see this more and more in the lives of kids today as they do what it takes to get “likes” and “follows” instead of following the examples that have been set for them by the hard-won trial and error their parents have achieved.

I was definitely one of those kids. But because of my parent’s adherence to Proverbs 22:6 and their consistent and heartfelt prayers, I was able to survive my poor decision-making and finally understand the joy of a proud father.

Not all of our decisions will be wise. Learning to do what is right is never easy. But to make it through this life and receive the Reward that God has gone to Prepare for us takes not only Perseverance but Determination.

Greatness is not achieved through luck or happenstance. Only hard work, consistency, and focus will get us to the heights that we seek. Often listening to our parent’s advice when we think they have no idea what they’re talking about will help us get there much sooner.

Take the words of the wisest man that ever lived to heart. Listen to his insight and heed those who have already gone through the things you are facing now. It is easier to reach great heights standing on the shoulders of those that have gone before us than to try and climb up by ourselves. Just a thought from somebody that’s spent too much time ignoring wisdom and wallowing around in the muck.

Have a Terrific Tuesday And Remember, It’s Not Where You Start, But Where You Finish That Matters!

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