Proverbs 15:20
A wise son maketh a glad father:
But a foolish man despiseth his mother.
Once he was in control of his kingdom having conquered Jerusalem, David, the Father of our author, spent the rest of his life preparing for his greatest ambition: the building of the first Jewish Temple. He designed the building plans, wrote the liturgy, organized the priesthood and even financed the whole project. Before he died, David merely passed everything on to his wise son Solomon. The building of this temple was David’s dream and passion. It was the physical expression of his love for God. As a father of five sons, I can understand the peace and gladness of heart David must have experienced at the moment of death, knowing that his own son would bring to fruition the passion of his life’s efforts.
A wayward child can never imagine nor understand the grief he causes to his parents. They invest years in the building of his character and in his education without getting any dividends. A father cannot find more pride anywhere or in anything else than in the knowledge that his children walk in his footsteps. Such is our inborn nature given to us by the God who also enjoyed His Own Son executing His good pleasure. A mother trains her child to be a support to the household and to her husband, so when that child become a lazy game-playing loafer, she feels despised; she feels all her good words of wisdom washed away by a flood of indifference.
We have a spiritual heritage today because for 6,000 years of generations, children have endorsed the dreams of the promises God made to their fathers. Today, we have a generation that seems to rejects the steady ancient faith and wisdom paths of their fathers; a generation that prefers to look forward[1] into the uncertain future of novel ideas.
A wise son maketh a glad father:
But a foolish man despiseth his mother.
Once he was in control of his kingdom having conquered Jerusalem, David, the Father of our author, spent the rest of his life preparing for his greatest ambition: the building of the first Jewish Temple. He designed the building plans, wrote the liturgy, organized the priesthood and even financed the whole project. Before he died, David merely passed everything on to his wise son Solomon. The building of this temple was David’s dream and passion. It was the physical expression of his love for God. As a father of five sons, I can understand the peace and gladness of heart David must have experienced at the moment of death, knowing that his own son would bring to fruition the passion of his life’s efforts.
A wayward child can never imagine nor understand the grief he causes to his parents. They invest years in the building of his character and in his education without getting any dividends. A father cannot find more pride anywhere or in anything else than in the knowledge that his children walk in his footsteps. Such is our inborn nature given to us by the God who also enjoyed His Own Son executing His good pleasure. A mother trains her child to be a support to the household and to her husband, so when that child become a lazy game-playing loafer, she feels despised; she feels all her good words of wisdom washed away by a flood of indifference.
We have a spiritual heritage today because for 6,000 years of generations, children have endorsed the dreams of the promises God made to their fathers. Today, we have a generation that seems to rejects the steady ancient faith and wisdom paths of their fathers; a generation that prefers to look forward[1] into the uncertain future of novel ideas.
Will faith die with this generation?
Is it what the Master meant when he said,
. . . Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Luke 18:8
[1] In our Greek mind, we say that we look ‘forward’ into the future, and ‘backward’ into the past. The ancient Semites knew that what we see in front of us is ‘forward’. What we don’t see, is what’s behind us. Because in life we can only see our past, which helps us in turn define our future steps, the ancients understood that therefore, it is the past that is in front of us and that we can see; the future is behind us because we cannot see it.
[1] In our Greek mind, we say that we look ‘forward’ into the future, and ‘backward’ into the past. The ancient Semites knew that what we see in front of us is ‘forward’. What we don’t see, is what’s behind us. Because in life we can only see our past, which helps us in turn define our future steps, the ancients understood that therefore, it is the past that is in front of us and that we can see; the future is behind us because we cannot see it.
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