Scripture
So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:25

Observation
One of my favourite pictures in the Bible is summed up with the words “every man under his vine and fig tree.” I imagine Jewish backyards with patios and landscaping, with lamb sizzling on the bbq and kids playing on the lawn. Having a home and family to fill it is one of life’s greatest rewards.

Why were the people blessed with this idyllic life? Because they had a good leader in King Solomon and they chose to fall under his leadership. Some cared for the king’s 40,000 stables. Others farmed to feed the palace one month out of 12. Sill more hauled rock and timber in rotating shifts in Lebanon.

The choice to come under that leadership brought blessing. There was time to do landscaping. There was time to let a tree grow big enough to enjoy its shade. Life was good because of a good leader and the choice of others to follow his lead.

Application

I have been blessed with a good leader in our pastor and in the leaders of our church. I’m thankful for them and open my heart to them.

Prayer
Father, help me to follow and to reap the rewards of following those whom you have placed in leadership over my life. Amen.

Scripture
Correct your son, and he will give you comfort;
He will also delight your soul. Proverbs 29:17

Observation
John Quincy Adams was the first son of a President to follow his father’s footsteps into office. His father, John Adams, devoted special time to his son Johnny. While John Adams served as America’s first ambassador to the courts of Europe, he took his teenage son with him where the boy learned to speak French and Dutch flawlessly. Decades later, George Washington would appoint the young J.Q. Adams as ambassador to the Netherlands. His father would live to see the day that his own son took the oath of office.

What I found interesting about his life, was the coaching the father gave to the son not just while he was a lad at home, but after he had gone to college. In one letter, the father learned that the boy, while studying at one of Europe’s great universities, was not learning from his favorite author. Adams senior urged his son to buy the books and study them for himself, or else the father would take him out of college and teach him himself.  When the well-travelled Adams junior got a little too big for his britches and bored his friends back home in Boston with his knowledge, his mother Abigail wrote to him,

“If you are conscious to yourself that you possess more knowledge upon some subjects than others of your standing, reflect that you have had greater opportunities of seeing the world, and obtaining a knowledge of mankind than any of your contemporaries. That you have never wanted a book but it has been supplied to you, that your whole time has been spent in the company of men of literature and science. How unpardonable would it have been in you to have been a blockhead.”

Application
I write all of that historical trivia for one reason: it pays to pay the price to raise children well. Correction can become tiresome, particularly toward the end of parenting. But it pays. The call to me to be a father is not about to stop on October 3 when Levi turns 18. It will continue, albeit, I will become more of a consultant than a parent. There are purposes God has for my children and my correction is part of the pathway.

Prayer
Father, help me to correct my children in ways that are appropriate. We’re in new territory. Help me to father well. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Nichole Nordeman sing “Legacy”

Observation
What is the first piece of advice that a father would give to his son going off to college? Leisurely days of childhood suddenly accordion into the last moments before a young man’s departure from home. As he stands at the airport gate, there is so much to say and so little time to say it in. Often in the last sentence before hugging his boy goodbye a father will whisper one last word of advice. He tries to cram so much wisdom into that moment. As his son disappears into the jetway he wishes that he had said more, sooner.

David spoke final words to his son, but they were not rushed sentences before take off. Before he departed the father/king took time with the crown prince to prepare him to lead. Those intimate conversations are recorded for us in Proverbs 1, as Solomon remembered the talks his dad had with him.  In Proverbs 1 is the lesson David felt was most important, because it is first.  The lesson is simple: choose your friends wisely. But the application David had in mind was not as simple.

David said to avoid two kinds of friends.

First, avoid the sinner as a friend. Here is how David described the sinner:

They may say, “Come and join us.
Let’s hide and kill someone!
Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!
My child, don’t go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths.
…These people set an ambush for themselves;
they are trying to get themselves killed.
Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
it robs them of life. Proverbs 1:11, 15, 18, 19

What is the sin that is so appealing to a young man? It is the desire to get money for nothing, to be clever, and to pull a fast on those who are older. Sinners will appeal to those basic urges, scamming and being scammed. In David’s day it seemed to be something akin to mugging. In our own, I think it could be any dishonesty that rips others off. The securest money is earned little by little, through hard work, that meets the needs of others, and offers quality at a fair price. Ethics like this endure because they are what make enduring people.

Second, the simpleton is not a good friend.  Here is how David described him:

How long, you simpletons,
will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
How long will you fools hate knowledge?
For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
Fools are destroyed by their own complacency. Proverbs 1:22, 32

The simpleton, to himself sounds clever and wise. But to those who are wise with God’s wisdom, a simpleton has the sound of a sarcastic cynic impressed with the sound of his own voice. It is odd that simpletons are oblivious to their simple mind. A simpleton feels smugly superior, but because he listens to himself and not the Lord he is really a fool. These are to be avoided as friends, because their advice will mislead.

Who then should be the friend of a young man? David’s answer is surprising. He did not recommend any human being to be young Solomon’s friend. Instead, David said, “Make the Holy Spirit your best friend.”

Wisdom shouts in the streets.
She cries out in the public square.
Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
and make you wise. Proverbs 1:20, 23

Lady wisdom who cries in the streets is none other than the Holy Spirit of wisdom. A young man must learn to hear her voice, not in the quiet solitude of his room, but in the noisy place of business in the streets. If a man can learn to hear God’s voice while others are talking then that man has become a true friend of the Holy Spirit.

Application
The best advice a father can give his son is to make the Holy Spirit his best friend. It is not a father’s job to advise his son for the rest of his life. Instead, he is to introduce his son to the voice of God. Once trained to hear the voice of God for himself and to respond to it, a son is set for life. I pray today that my son will know the Holy Spirit as his best friend.

Prayer
Father, I have only a few months left with Levi. Help us during that time to learn together how to hear your voice and respond. Amen.