Posted on 01/09/2022 11:39:41 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The proverbs of Solomon” (Proverbs 10:1)
Now we get into the proverbs. The first seven chapters deal with instructions to a son, chapters 8 and 9 are the praise of wisdom, compared to non-wisdom (or stupidity). Now we get into the individual proverbs. A proverb is to “make like,” a similitude or a comparison, to set alongside—to place side-by-side— “likes.”
In chapter nine, we see the good woman, the bad woman, the good house, the bad house, good wisdom, bad wisdom—those were compared. Now, instead of going through a whole chapter—he is going to make the comparisons in one verse. Short proverbs.
“A wise son maketh a glad father: BUT a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” (Proverbs 10:1 KJV).
Think about that! Why would the father be related to the wise one, and the mother to the foolish? What would be the difference? Generally, when a man is successful the man will take the credit for it. “A chip of the old block,” “I taught him everything I know.” But if that bird turns out to be a turkey, you know what the dad does? He disinherits him, writes him off and goes and plays golf—but that mother broods over the boy, and bears the burden of that individual. I guarantee, she doesn’t forget it, and she doesn’t write him off.
The man will just write him off, the man is very pragmatic. The kid turns out to be a success, he’ll take all the credit, but the kid turns out to be a dud—he just writes him off! But that woman, she bore him, she fed him, she’ll never write him off. She’ll bear that “heaviness.” It’ll be a burden to her. She’ll never give up on him.
“A wise son maketh a glad father” –true. “but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.” –a burden.
Paul Solett wrote:
There was a day when most families had woodsheds and chicken coops. The mother in one such family tried to persuade her son to go up to bed. Finally, she said, “See! The little chickens went to sleep a long time ago.”
The little lad answered, “I know, Mother. I have been watching them, and you know what? The mother hen always goes up first.”
Children usually follow in the footsteps of their parents. That’s why the home is so important. Jesus appreciated the values of the home. At Bethany He enjoyed staying at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. At Emmaus He gladly accepted the invitation of the two disciples who constrained Him saying, “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.”
Jesus comes to you and me and pleads, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
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