A Mother’s Teachings Series

PROVERBS 6: 20-24

A MOTHER’S TEACHINGS

The warnings against adultery in Proverbs are prefaced by admonitions to pay attention to the Word of God (5:1-2; 6:10-24; 7:1-5). It is by trusting and obeying the truth that God keeps us from believing the enemies lies. God watches over us, protects us, and directs us through His Word (CIT).

Certainly children will be kept out of harms way by heeding their father’s and mother’s instructions. Mothers are far more than baby sitters. They are building human life, the most important work in all the world. God has given parents the responsibility to direct the children with which He has blessed them.

Some see the law of God as a tyrant which prevents us from enjoying life. Others see the law of God as a burden which binds us with its heavy load. Solomon says that the law of God is a light. That is, the intention of God’s teachings are not to restrain us but to liberate us, not to make life miserable but to help us find and enjoy life.

I. Hold Instruction Tightly, 20-21.

II. Taught in Life, 22.

III. Corrected and Disciplined, 23-24.

Once again in verse 20 Solomon exhorted his son to heed his mother’s instructions. "My son, observe the commandment of your father, and do not forsake the law (teaching) of your mother."

"Commandment of your father" is usually used to signify parental authority but here in addition to the general formula "the teachings of your mother" is singled out. [Male pronouns are used throughout the Bible usually in the generic sense (including women) representing all the race. It is not to be inferred from this that the male gender is responsible for all the problems--nor that it is endowed with all the answers.] The use of command and law shows that obedience is not a matter of option or choice but of responsibility or rebellion.

Both mothers and fathers (1:8; 4:3) are given authority by the Supreme Authority to instill the Word of God into the hearts of their children. The home is to be a school where children are nurtured. Parents are to act as channels to convey the Word to the hearts of their children. Parents in a sense are mediators between God and their children for a while. What you give them, they receive; what you tell them, they believe. This faith is part of their make-up. Weigh that responsibility well and practice what you impress upon their tender hearts. First ideas and habits are most important because they give direction to their course and tone to their character throughout life.

Your children are picking their instruction up from you. Are you teaching them God’s instructions? Or do you let them pick up their instructions from the world? Or from your fallen nature?

A mother who desires the best for her children will pour out God’s teachings through her lips and into the infant’s ears so that his soul might be converted and he might become wise. Are you the channel through which the milk of the Word pours through into your child? (See1 Peter 2:2.)

Verse 21 advises us to adhere to the instructs inwardly and have our life graced by them. "Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck,"

Wisdom speaks through the father, reinforcing what the mother has taught. The father tells the child that it’s of critical importance that the words of the mother be remembered and acted upon throughout life.

How is the child turned into a true man? His life hangs upon whether he will take his godly mother’s teachings to heart. Will he take them with him or leave them in the nest as he flies away. The moral condition of the sons of the world hang in the balance of whether or not their mothers teach them godly morality, and on their fathers reinforcing them & then on the son taking them with him when he leaves home.

In the pliable times of childhood, the character is chiefly molded by the mother. "Psychiatrist estimate on the basis of their studies that approximately 85 percent of the adult personality is already formed by the time the individual is six years old" [Christian Child-rearing and Personality Development by Paul Meier, MD]. That is why binding is of such critical importance if positive change is to occur later in life.

So the son is commanded to bind them and tie them. The metaphors of tying or binding (1:9; 3:3, 22) depict the tenacity with which wisdom is to be grasped because of the constant key role it plays in every aspect and activity of daily life. How can you do that? Scripture memory straps the truths of God to you. The word translated "bind" means "to tie together, to bring something in connection with something else." Our word correlate fits. Scriptures correlate so much better when we store them up. Scripture tied to Scripture, tied to love & life. For they help us come to terms with life and give life better sense when certain Scriptures are in place in our heads. Life is a rough journey so God’s Word needs to be bound & tie in our heart and mind. If not the jolting, scrapping and falls of life may cause them to slip away.