Year 5, Day 304: Proverbs 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Information

• Information: This is the initial phase of become a disciple of Jesus.  Before we can do anything meaningful we must begin to understand what we are doing.  We may never gain full understanding of God and His ways, but God calls us to study Him, His Son, and His ways as the foundation of being His follower.

Discipleship always begins with teaching.  We cannot possibly hope to put anything into meaningful practice before we have heard about it.  Thus, when we are looking to grow and mature, we must have a mindset of being willing to learn and open to those who can teach us the easy and hard lessons of life.

We get this lesson right off the bat in the first verse.  A wise son listen’s to his father’s instruction.  A scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

As we progress through the psalm, we hear even more of this advice.  Whoever despises the word brings destruction.  Whoever reveres a command will be rewarded.  The teaching of the wise is the fountain of life.  Good sense wins favor.  In everything the prudent acts with knowledge, but the fool flaunts his folly.  Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Clearly this chapter is concerned with the idea of passing along communal wisdom to one another.  We get a clear sense in this chapter that the foundation of wisdom and meaningful life starts with putting ourselves in a position to learn from those who can teach us.  Of course, we have to be willing to imitate what we learn and then innovate it truly into our life.

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