“He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
~ Proverbs 13:24
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you wise kids or are you foolish kids? What do you think makes a kid be a wise kid? What do you think makes a kid be a foolish kid? How do you think that a kid becomes wise? How do you think that a kid becomes foolish? Do you think that a kid can become a wise kid without doing some foolish things? Do you think that a kid can become a foolish kid without doing some wise things? What is something that you have done that makes you look like wise, sensible kids? What is something that you have done that makes you look like foolish, irresponsible kids? Some of the foolish things that your grandpaa has done have at times come back to your grandpaa’s mind to haunt your grandpaa. Your grandpaa feels a regret at times for how he has impatiently reacted to something that was said or to a sticky situation that was not of his doing when he should have first counted to three and then he should have calmly responded to what had been said or to what had been done. Your grandpaa has at times had to apologize to a guy or gal after he has said something in a disquieting or provocative way to the guy or gal. Your grandpaa will sometimes say ‘ow’ and ‘you hurt me’ to a guy or gal – if the guy or gal has touched him, pretending that the guy or gal has somehow hurt him. Most of the time the guy or gal will just laugh and say something which will tell your grandpaa that he or she knows that your grandpaa was just kidding. If your grandmaa is nearby and if she overhears your grandpaa saying ‘ow’ and ‘you hurt me’ to a guy or gal, your grandmaa will tell the guy or gal to just ignore your grandpaa – that your grandpaa is just trying to be . . . your grandmaa and grandpaa about three months ago joined a Bible study group that meets weekly. When your grandmaa and grandpaa decided to join this Bible study group, your grandmaa and grandpaa did not know any of the other six couples who in this Bible study group. The Bible study group that your grandmaa and grandpaa are now a part of got together this past Wednesday evening at the house where a couple by the name of Steve and Marsha live. As your grandpaa was going into the house where Steve and Marsha live and as Marsha was sincerely thanking your grandpaa for coming to her house for the weekly Bible study, Marsha gently patted your grandpaa’s back. When your grandpaa did his ‘ow’ – ‘you hurt me’ infantile foolish response to Marsha for what she did when she patted his back, grandpaa saw a concerned look on Marsha’s face. When your grandpaa realized that Marsha had taken his nitwit remarks seriously when she patted him on his back . . . your grandpaa ended up apologizing a couple of times to Marsha for his juvenile attempt to . . . because Marsha is a very sweet, pleasant gal, your grandpaa still feels very disappointed in himself that he has left Marsha with the impression that he is an immature doofus and that he ‘lies’. Marsha had really thought that your grandpaa might have had a sore back and that she had hurt your grandpaa when she patted your grandpaa’s back.
Solomon was expert on wisdom. Solomon was also an expert on being a fool. Solomon was the house wisdom doctor as well as being the house fool doctor. Solomon – in Proverbs 13, encourages wisdom and being wise while discouraging foolishness and being a fool. Solomon knew where wisdom came from and he knew what brought on foolishness. Wisdom leads to making good decisions. Wisdom leads to invariably doing the right thing. Wisdom leads to internal peace and possible financial prosperity. Foolishness leads to making wrong decisions. Foolishness leads to invariably doing bad things. Foolishness leads to internal angst and possible financial poverty. A wisdom seeker listens closely to instructions, enjoys doing good things, guards his or her lips, hates what is false, protects his or her integrity, exudes a bright future, heeds advice, uses caution, is trustworthy, accepts correction, seeks wise company and knows the value of being disciplined. A foolish seeker mocks rebukes, craves violence, speaks rashly, lives the life of a sluggard, brings down shame and disgrace upon himself or herself – and on his or her dad and/or ma, is captivated and captured by sin’s deviousness, lets his or her wealth capture and ransom his or her life, has no future hope, quarrels with others, lives a dishonest life, scorns instruction, falls into troubles, enjoys doing evil and seeks the company of fellow fools.
Why do you think that some kids become wise while other kids become foolish? Solomon knew why some kids become wise and why some kids become foolish. Solomon understood that the difference maker between a kid who is wise and a kid who is foolish is a dad who intentionally teaches his kid what is right and who purposefully disciplines his kid when his kid acts foolish. Verse 24 says, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” Discipline can be equated with a dad doing the physical punishing of his kid using a designated spanking tool because of his kid’s inappropriate and unacceptable foolish behavior. Discipline can also be equated with a dad doing proactive modeling of a disciplined Christ-follower life that includes the daily pursuit of spiritual insights, that incorporates each life challenge into the underpinning of a Christ-follower life and that involves doing at every moment what his Christ-follower heart says is the right thing to do. A dad is the one who opens the window of wisdom for his kid. A kid with no dad has only his or her ma – which is not a ma’s mandated duty to help him or her to open wisdom’s window. Your grandpaa is very thankful that he had a dad who modeled through his life and words. Your grandpaa rarely saw his dad angry and he never heard his dad use a swear word.
Proverbs 13 (956)