Tiny Devotional for Saturday, 12-05-2020

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors out there in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Happy Repeal Day!

My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding,
So that you may maintain discretion
And your lips may comply with knowledge.
Proverbs 5:1-2, NASB


The saying is addressed to the son, but I think the basic admonition is to the father. 
The words are plain: the father is setting himself before his son as an example. 
You have to be pretty confident to do that. 

This says to me: father, have your act together. Don’t think you can get away with anything; little eyes are on you constantly. Your children have no more powerful influence than you.
This is a STRONG word! It means I had better be pretty careful how I act, and how I respond to the acts of others; and I had BETTER not act in a way I don’t want to see my kids act. 

Our society is no longer polite. Politicians speak horrible things about each other; we had rioting in the streets this summer; keyboard warriors call people names, and boast of what they are going to do. 
Robert A. Heinlein wrote:
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”  
I love Heinlein’s work, but I think this is more accurate:
“A society in which fathers set a good example for their children is a polite society.” 

We are to set an example for our children, so that their lips comply with knowledge, and they maintain discretion. That extends FAR past being polite! However, politeness is a part of it.

Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. mylonDecember 8, 2020 at 10:34 AM

    amen. Good word, bro. I wish I had known how much they really do what they are taught day after day for years by watching us. Hard lessons for us all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Habakkuk21December 8, 2020 at 12:26 PM

      Alas, WE were only doing what WE had been taught.
      But we learned to hunger for something else.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 06-21-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the Fairmount Pattersons are Papa-sitting this morning! It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Proverbs 21:9, NASB Today is the 21st of the month; so, Proverbs 21. I have written about verses 1-8;  it’s verse 9’s turn. Thus, my selection of this verse has NOTHING to do with my wife, mother, sisters, or daughters! All of them are intelligent, confident, and assertive; they are NOT contentious. ‘Contentious’ does NOT mean ‘has a different opinion’!  A man who has lived with a contentious woman gives the definition by example: I was 20 years old, and stupid (those might be the same thing).  I thought our marriage would work because she was beautiful, and I was, too. It didn’t take long before I realized I was wrong about that. Most of the time, it didn’t matter what I did; I couldn’t please her. We were married for 3 years,
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 08-20-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Piper doesn’t like her food. Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord. Proverbs 20:10, NASB If this verse weren’t so important, I’d skip it, because I discovered it in a painful time. Others were involved, and their stories are not mine to tell. So, you get a parable: Stockman Bubba ran a cattle station, in partnership with his horse, Nancy. They worked hard together, and although they were not rich, they had achieved a degree of success. One day, a platypus stung Bubba, incapacitating him. Bubba tried to continue running the station, but after two years had passed, he realized it was time to retire. Nancy couldn’t adjust to this, and she left for life on her own. Three years later, Bubba realized Nancy was never coming back, and considered getting another horse. However, he was concerned that the other station owners would think bad
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 07-23-2023

Image
 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, reach for the sky. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18, NASB Today’s verse is 18, but I included 17, because I THINK they are a couplet. I wrote about verse 17 last month, and will try not to repeat myself. Our senses describe the present, our memory describes the past; the future is described by our hopes and our fears. In this little verse, we are given one of the strongest foundations for peace: yes, you DO have a future, and it’s a good one. Under most circumstances, we take the future for granted. If you have ever been forced to doubt that a future exists, you know how chilling that is. ‘No future’ is MUCH worse than ‘bad future.’ This verse draws us back away from the abyss of nothingness, and back into reality: yes, you DO have a future.  (If that
Read more