March 19, 2026 -- Proverbs 6:20, 23a -- Godly instruction from father and mother

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

20  My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
23  For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light…
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Pr 6:20, 23a.
 
Maybe, like me, you’ve had a tendency to exaggerate. For example, when repeating an instruction to my recalcitrant child, I’d exclaim “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times…” The point is, repeated instructions are necessary when training up a child in the way he should go. Humbling, but true, even as adults, we know the good way, we know the truth Jesus commands us to obey, and yet we swerve away from it. We need the repeated instructions of a faithful father and the teaching of a righteous mother as these are expressed in Scriptures.
 
Interestingly, even this brief passage is radical. It speaks of parents as, one man, one woman, to the exclusion of all others. Marriage is honorable. It is the building block of society by which covenant children are raised in the knowledge of the LORD. No wonder society at large seeks to break down the blessing of marriage by encouraging rebellion in children, teaching sexually violent theories in public schools. Society attacks marriage by legalizing all kinds of perversions and variants of sexual coupling and calling it marriage. The Bible is radical in today’s world; as radical as it has always been.
 
A father’s commandment is instruction in of the word of God. Notice at verse 23 the value of such instruction: it is a lamp. This foreshadows the teaching of Jesus. All godly commandments are anchored in the Truth of Jesus. Again, this is considered radical in our world precisely because unbelieving people want autonomy. The problem is an unbelieving person is a tyrant, whose dictates are self-destruction, fueled by the fires of hell. Even men and women who profess a living faith in Jesus must battle the insurgent tendencies arising within which rebel against the good we know. That is why Christians who mess up must be ready to fess up; that is what integrity looks like.
 
“The mother’s teaching” in the original language is the mother’s Torah. The Torah is the name used for first five books of the Old Testament. Torah is also, in other contexts, the expression of the right direction. Such teaching, such Torah is light. Jesus picks up these references in Proverbs 20 and 23; He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life” (John 8:12 ESV). The rules and statutes and laws and commandments of God are not boring. They set the course of one’s life, making sure the godly one's heading is aimed directly towards Jesus. Making the commandments and teaching of the LORD your chosen path means you are interacting with the LORD Who made you, loves you, and intends what is best for you in all things.
 
LORD of Commandment and Love, by the presence of Your Spirit help me to see that Your laws show me my sin, lead me to find forgiveness in Christ, and guide me in grateful living. Forgive me for thinking about Your laws and commands in the abstract, as if they are not fundamentally tied into Your best intentions for me, Your child. Spirit, lead me in the way of Truth, then my walk with God truly will be endless praise and thanksgiving. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/FSHe-kibZDg?si=9pDRcKsE76WUobPM Teach Me Your Way, O Lord
 

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