Instruction of thy Father and Law of thy Mother
"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:""For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck." Proverbs 1:8-9
Who is "thy father"? It does not refer to my physical father. According to the standards of righteousness in the Word of God, there is a spiritual father for you. This does not refer necessarily to your biological father. This refers to an ideal father who has all the attributes of a spiritual father in Christ Jesus. According to the standards of righteousness in the Word of God, there is a father for you. He is a model father after the heart of God. This father does not allow you to live in sin. He is a model father after the heart of God. This father does not allow you to lead a life without any purpose. This father does not allow you to divorce your wife or to forsake your children. This father does not allow you to remarry another spouse after divorce if you have divorced your spouse. This father exhorts you to get yourself reconciled with your vagabond spouse. This father does not allow you to permit your son or your daughter to roam about with his girlfriend or boyfriend, as the case may be. This father does not allow you to permit your son to date some boy or girl. He scolds us and speaks about judgment when we commit a sin. This father does not allow you to spend your precious time before your television or in a movie theater. This father does not allow you to misappropriate the funds of the church or your employer. My father has instruction to give me. He instructs me on how to live in this world, how to behave in the church, how to behave in my office, and how to lead my family life -how to treat my wife and children.
Paul was a spiritual father to Titus whom he called "my own son after the common faith" (Titus 1:4).
Every child of God should have only one spiritual father to nurtur him/her in the Word. A pastor cannot be a father to him/her unless the former has the heart of a father. Similarly, a minister of God like apostle, prophet, evangelist or teacher cannot take the place of a father if he does not have the heart of a father towards the sheep of the Lord . Thesedays, we find a child of God surrounded by all these ministers. Of course, a pastor or a prophet or an apostle can be a spiritual father to some child of God. In other words, a pastor or an apostolic minister who has the heart of a father can definitely be a father to some child of God. Paul was a father to the churches planted by him. An evangelist who preaches the gospel to the multitudes cannot become a father to all of them. An apostolic minister who plants the churches cannot be a father to all the sheep. Like Paul to Titus, he can be a father to some of the sheep only who are mostly his co-workers.
Who is "thy mother"? It does not refer to my physical mother, who is no more today. This refers to a spiritual mother who has all the attributes of a mother in Christ Jesus. According to the standards of righteousness in the Word of God, there is a mother for you. According to the standards of righteousness in the Word of God, there is a mother for me. This refers to a spiritual elder who has the heart of an ideal spiritual mother for me. This mother feeds me with her breast-milk in the Word. She always exhorts me to meditate on the Word of God. She exhorts me to pray always. She has her law for me. Her law does not change. I have to change myself according to her law. If I disobey her law, she weeps for me in her secret places. She weeps for me because she knows that if I forsake her law, I will land in hell. Her law teaches me to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. The law of my father further teaches me about my salvation, the new birth, etc., whereas the instruction of my father takes me to a higher level of righteousness. If I do not follow the instruction of my father after keeping the law of my mother, I may lose my life eternal.
In this verse, we find the instruction of thy father first, and then the law of thy mother. We have to hear the instruction of our father. Our father instructs us to hear the Word of God. We should always hear. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom.10:17). Today many people do not hear the instruction of their father. They do not take pains to hear all of the glorious gospel. They are perishing because they do not hear the instruction of their father. The law of our mother comes after this. People will believe on Jesus Christ only if they hear the instruction of their father for listening to the gospel. That is why the instruction of our father comes first.
The instruction of the father and the law of the mother are an ornament of grace unto our head, and chains about our neck. These are ornaments of grace for our spiritual life. Our spiritual life is adorned by them. Head means knowledge. Our knowledge about God comes through the knowledge about Jesus Christ only. The knowledge about Jesus Christ is revealed in the four gospels of the New Testament. We cannot separate the instruction of the father and the law of the mother from the knowledge about Jesus Christ. These are not merely some written codes of conduct for us. These are in fact graces given by God for our spiritual growth.
Nowadays, people preach that we need not follow any commandment under the New Testament as Jesus has become the end of the law. Though Jesus became the end of the law, we have to follow the instruction of the father and the law of the mother. The people of Israel followed the law of Moses out of compulsion but we have to follow the instruction of the father and the law of the mother with a willing mind and with a heart filled with love for our Father in heaven. We cannot lead the life of grace without the instruction of the Father and the law of the mother.
These are chains about our neck. Neck means integrity. It is the neck in our body which holds our head and the body together. Similarly, the integrity of a person holds his knowledge and soul together. The body is likened to our soul. The instruction of the father and the law of the mother are chains about our neck. This means that we cannot uphold our integrity without following the instruction of the father and the law of the mother. These days, many wisemen of this world claim to have integrity. If they have integrity without Jesus Christ, their integrity cannot hold their head (knowledge) and their body (soul) together. In other words, a life of morality without Jesus Christ is good for nothing. Our integrity or our life of morality should be adorned by the instruction of the father and the law of the mother. These days, we have in our midst many scholars or writers or intellectuals who have "head" i.e. knowledge but they do not have "neck" i.e. integrity or that character that holds their head (knowledge) and their body (soul) together.
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