We are living in a very noisy world indeed. In the mornings I take a little walk and things are generally pretty quiet. You might hear noises from some birds in the trees and insects. On the noisier side, there is a highway that is a quarter mile away and often planes 10,000 feet above my head are on their way to Nashville. We are living in a very noisy world. If I lived on this same place 150 years ago, I would have heard very few human sounds. If I lived next to a sawmill or some such establishment, there would have been some noise, but not the kind of noise that we hear now. I am not begrudging that. We are far better off now than we were 150 years ago. My point is, it is kind of hard and confusing to know what noise to pay attention to and hear.
I wonder if God came to your house today to speak to your home, what would God say to your family? What would God’s opinion be about your family, your school, your job, your church, your work, and your friends? What would God say to your family? If you think that God really wouldn’t care, then you really don’t know what you need to know about God. Do you think you are more opinionated about your life than God is? That is not a good place to be. What would God say? And don’t you know where to find out?
In Proverbs 6:1, 3, and 20, a father is addressing a son. So, what would God say? You can know because you can read His Word. In Proverbs 6 it is framed as a father and son, but it is from God to us. What would God say? First of all, the father gives warning. Proverbs 6:3 says, “Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself.” He goes on to talk about debt and friends. He is warning his son. In verse 12 he says, “A naughty person, a wicked man…,” and then he talks about the wicked and crooked people against which the son should be on guard. So, there is a warning against debt and bad friends that any good father would give to his son. God gives it to us.
You have here observation. Verse 6 says, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” He goes on to talk about how the ant is industrious and takes initiative. On my morning walks, I pass three or four ant hills. I sometimes like to step on them, then come back a day later to see how much progress they have made. I know that is terrible! But they are very industrious; they just keep at it. They are not going to let up, and if they do finally leave, they will just move on and build a city in the next place. So, pay attention, observe. I want to learn from experience, but I would far rather learn from your experience than mine because it is far less painful. It is much more objective. Better yet, when I can take the repository of God’s wisdom in the observations of life to this point and learn from them.
My grandfather would sometimes look at troubled young people who would come to camp and say, “I can write his story.” He loved those kids and he wasn’t saying he knew the future, but he was saying, “I have seen similar circumstances so many times that if you do these actions and make these choices, it will always end up with these inevitable results.” That is observation. That is what God would give us.
What would God say to your family if He were to be here right now? He would give opinions. In verse 16 He says, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.” He talks about the things that are an abomination and contemptible to Him and he talks about the things that He loves. The point is, what would God’s opinions be about your life and my life? Are we more opinionated about our lives than God is? If we are, that is probably not a good thing. I am not saying that every little decision we make in life is something we need to agonize over. However, we should be very intent on knowing what God’s opinion is.
God would give us guidance, protection, and He would talk to us. Verse 20 says, “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother.” It says they will lead you, keep you, talk with you, be a lamp and light to you, and keep you from destruction in your life.
So, as we look at this collection of Proverbs, is this a father speaking or is this God the Father speaking? Charles Spurgeon, a pastor in London more than 150 years ago, said, “It is a very happy circumstance when the commandment of our father and the law of our mother are also the commandment of God and the law of the Lord.” So, what a wonderful thing when I am giving to my kids what God has given to me and not some subjective feeling, when I know God’s guidance for my life because I have His word open in my lap and I take action on it.
The sum and substance of all this is that your leadership as a parent will be no better than its source. So, what is the source of the guidance you give to your kids? Is it some personality on television, some YouTuber, some article you have read? People can be a help to us, but the help they are going to be is only as good as it is scriptural. So, what is your source today? Have the peace and confidence by knowing that God knows you, God loves your family, He has an opinion about it, and as you listen to Him, you will be able to lead them because your leadership will be no better than its source.