PROVERBS LESSON 9
HONORING PARENTS
By PAULINE SMITH
Mark was excited as he was going swimming with his Boy Scout troop. The leader was picking him up soon. "Now, Mark, remember to do everything Mr. Marsh tells you to do. Don’t go outside the buoys that mark the part where you are supposed to swim. Be very careful" Mother cautioned, "as this is the first time that your father or I have not gone with you to swim.’
"Oh, Mama, " Mark said, " you worry too much. I am getting old enough to go by myself sometimes. Nothing will happen to me.. There is Mr. Marsh now. Goodbye, Mama."
Mrs. Johnson told her son goodbye and tried not to worry. She went to work in the garden and kept busy all afternoon. Later she came in and decided to start dinner as Mr. Johnson would come in soon. She looked at the clock and wondered why Mark was not back yet. Finally she saw Mr. Marsh drive up and get out and she was alarmed as she was afraid something was wrong.. Mr. Marsh said, "Mrs. Johnson, I'm sorry we are late but we had a problem swimming but it turned out all right. I just wanted you to watch Mark to see that he feels well tonight. He'll tell you all about it."
"Mama," said Mark sadly, " I did what you told me not to do and got in trouble. We were swimming and Dennis wanted to swim out and touch the snag that was just a few feet outside the buoys. I told him that we were not to swim out there but he said that we could swim out there and get back before Mr. Marsh or lifeguard noticed us. I still didn't think we ought to; but finally he dared me to and asked me if I was "chicken". You know how I hate to be called chicken or back down when someone dares me. So I told him finally that I guessed I'd do it.. We started out and, just a little after we got out from the buoys, a current pulled me away from the place where I was and sucked me down. I came up and yelled for help. Dennis was yelling too and Mr. Marsh and the lifeguard both jumped in. Mr. Marsh got to me first and someone threw him a rope because of the current. He pulled me in and then they threw the rope to the lifeguard that had Dennis. He had gone under and when they pulled him in, he looked like he was drowned. Mr. Marsh had put me on my stomach and water that I had swallowed poured out. But Dennis looked like he was dead but the lifeguard started giving him CPR and they called 911. Finally Dennis coughed and then he began to breathe before the ambulance got there. But they took him on to the hospital to be sure he would be all right. I'm so sorry, Mama, and I know I deserve to be punished for it."
Mother hugged Mark and told him she thought he'd already been punished enough She told him she was so thankful that neither of them had drowned and she thought they needed to say a prayer and thank God for their safety. They prayed and then Mark asked his mother if Proverbs said anything about children minding their parents. She told him it did and he said he thought she had better read some to him and maybe it would help him to not do something like that again.
Mother began reading and told Mark she would begin reading in Proverbs six and verses 20 through 23 "My son, keep father's commands ` and do not forsake your mother's teaching.. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching a light and the corrections of discipline are the way of life." The paraphrased Bible gives meaning to us in our common way of speaking. It says, "Young man, obey your father and your mother. tie their instructions around your finger so you won't forget. Take to heart all of their advice. Every day and all night long their counsel will lead you and save you from harm; when you wake up in the morning, let their instructions guide you into the new day. For their advice is a beam of light directed into the dark corners of your mind to warn you of danger and to give you a good life."
"Mama, if I had listened to you it would have saved me from almost drowning. But I listened to my friend and that got me in trouble." said Mark. His mother agreed and said there was some more advice to young men that she would like to read to him.
"Proverbs 13:20 says' He who walks with the wise grows wise but a companion of fools suffers harm'" Mark said, " I guess Dennis was foolish but I listened to him so I was foolish too"
Mother said that it is also important to avoid fights and to hold your temper. She began to read from Proverbs 14: verses fifteen through 18 from the amplified version which gives the meaning well. " Only a simpleton believes what he is told! A prudent man checks to see where he is going. A wise man is cautious and avoids danger, a fool plunges ahead with great confidence. A short tempered man is a fool. He hates the man who is patient. The simpleton is crowned with folly, the wise man is crowned with knowledge."
"Proverbs fifteen in verse 1 tells us, 'A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger'". We read In verse 18 'A hot tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.'"
Mother told Mark that Solomon also wrote Ecclesiastes and in Ecclesiastes 12: 1 he gave the best advice to young people. In the amplified version it reads, " Don't let the excitement of being young cause you to forget about your Creator. Honor him in your youth before the evil years come when you'll no longer enjoy living."
"And, Mark, did you know that Solomon tells me something too? "Mother said. "Proverbs 22 says in verse six, 'Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.'. I think of that constantly and pray about it too because this is an important command to parents."
1. Children should...........................their father and mother.
2. If we believe everything we are told without checking we are .............................
3.A .................man checks to see if what he is told is true.
4.A wise man is cautious and avoids .....................
5. Solomon says a short tempered man is a ..........................
6. A .......... answer turns away wrath.
7. A harsh word stirs up .................
8.. Remember your ..........................in the days of your youth.
9. Solomon has.........................for parents too.
10. Train up a ............. in the way he should go and when he is ..........he will not turn from it.
Parents have a big responsibility and try to teach their children the right way. Parents make mistakes but mothers and fathers know they must do their best because as Solomon says in Proverbs 11:19 "The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death."