For Imperfect Children

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching, for they will be a garland of favor on your head and pendants around your neck.”

Throughout the first nine chapters of Proverbs, Solomon beseeches his children to pay attention to him and heed his words. In the strongest of terms, he contrasts the reward of following wisdom with the peril of being enticed by sinners. Solomon wants the best for the children God has given him.

Like every parent who has ever lived, Solomon sometimes missed the mark. Like you and me, he was unable to obey God’s law. His children, like every child who has ever lived, did not inherently desire to follow wisdom- either their parents, or the Lord’s. So how does an imperfect parent impart wisdom to imperfect children?

Solomon, while full of wisdom, lived before the cross. There was much he knew! He knew the fear of the Lord. He knew it was the beginning of knowledge. But what he didn’t know was the kindness of God, lavished on foolish sinners, through the substitutionary death of His own Son: Jesus, our Savior, Wisdom personified.

If you have been blessed enough to have parents who love the Lord and love you, their deepest desire is for you to know Jesus and to love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to follow Him all the days of your life. If you are a parent, who loves the Lord and your children, this is likely also your heartfelt desire. As a Mom, this has been my prayer over my children for more than two decades. Prone to wander, our children may for a time, turn a deaf ear as Wisdom cries out to them, but we pray all the more fervently.

Merciful God, loving Father, the source of life and all wisdom, incline our children’s ears to your voice, and draw their hearts to yours. We have all been enticed by sin, rejected our Father’s instruction, and given in to our wicked desires, but in your loving kindness you sent Jesus to bear our penalty and wear our shame. You give us a garland of favor on our heads, pendants around our neck, and cover us with a robe of righteousness, when we rightly deserve death. You are so kind, Lord. Open the eyes of our children to see your goodness, Fill us all with your Spirit, we pray, and may we be generations of your Church that commend your works to another, and declare your mighty acts.

Our own children- and the children of The Bridge- need Who we all need: Jesus. May our lives and words display His grace so that they too will desire Wisdom.

Natalie