A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:13

I die daily devotional.

¹² When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³ Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.
¹⁴ Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

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Having put forth the effort to understand instruction in order to take hold of it, am inspired through that discipline … and grow in discovery of my Father in Heaven. To take hold of instruction is to experience the discipline of the Spirit; the invisible nature of God my Father is right here in my presence—the Holy Spirit—and my conscience is affected by the sight of an objective observer. Jesus Christ is the objective observer according to my belief through faith in Him, and am, therefore, disciplined by the instruction of His Word, the gospel of righteousness.

As long as I do not let go of the instruction of wisdom that disciplines me, and guard her as my salvation depends on it, my life is preserved in Jesus Christ, for she is my life.

God our Father is giving us constant instruction by the discipline of His Word being present with us for fellowship between us and our Father through Jesus Christ.

The instruction I feel in constant contention with is coming in our next verse because my heart goes out to those that suffer in the path of wickedness by proceeding in the way of evil men. Evil men are those who’ve beguiled the vulnerable to suffer a fate of their demise, desperate for what they cannot have, and thus manage to succeed in society by playing their biggest hand known as—”royal victim”. These people will fault the devil and blame God in every circumstance that doesn’t appeal to their desired way of survival, rather than taking responsibility for what they know at heart is wrong!

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RESOURCE

Proverbs 4 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

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COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V13) Commentary
Some make David’s instructions to Solomon, which began v. 4, to continue to the end of the chapter; nay, some continue them to the end of the ninth chapter; but it is more probable that Solomon begins here again, if not sooner. In these verses, having exhorted us to walk in the paths of wisdom, he cautions us against the path of the wicked.

• 1. We must take heed of the ways of sin and avoid them, every thing that looks like sin and leads to it.
• 2. In order to this we must keep out of the ways of sinners, and have no fellowship with them. For fear of falling into wicked courses, we must shun wicked company.