July 8 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Proverbs 4:1-13

¹Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
²For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
³For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
⁴He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
⁵Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
⁶Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
⁷Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
⁸Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
⁹She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
¹⁰Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
¹¹I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
¹²When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
¹³Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

Devotional:

Solomon pays real tribute to David his father who truly loved him and taught him to seek wisdom. We can glean from this picture something which would contribute toward Solomon's choosing from God the gift of wisdom for himself.

Now Solomon is passing this advice on to his children. 'Get wisdom. Get understanding' (4:5). What does he mean by wisdom? Certainly this is not a mere worldly wisdom. With this section we must compare chapter 1, verse 7, and other verses like it: 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.' This is a wisdom which is based upon an understanding of God the Creator-Sustainer-Redeemer. This is what we are to strive for and to enjoin our children to strive for.

In all our education as people of God we work from the presupposition of the existence of God, the God who reveals Himself in Scripture. We cannot have true knowledge or the wisdom to utilize it unless we begin with God.

This orientation is a major element in the genius of the Christian School. If children are in such an educational system and atmosphere they will be learning by the power of the Spirit of God that the fear of the Lord is the basis of all true thinking.

If our children are not in this kind of a school, what an added responsibility we have! Our efforts at home and in the church have to be even more assiduously geared toward the undergirding of the child for the task of approaching with Christian presuppositions all the subject matter of the classroom and of the world at large. He needs to be shown how to weigh, consider and analyze whatever he meets and be able to see the fallacies resulting from beginning with another premise.

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life!' (4:13)