Today’s post is written by Nate McCartney.
My son, do not forget my teaching…
When I was 5 years old, I REALLY wanted a new bicycle. My parents, wanting to teach me the value of money and earning what I wanted or needed, made a deal with me. For every verse of the Bible I learned, I would earn fifty cents. I needed fifty dollars to buy the bike, which meant that I had to memorize 100 verses in order to pay for the bike. Having wise parents, they suggested that I memorize a chapter of Proverbs, and landed upon Proverbs 3.
I can still recite a pretty good portion of it to this day, and will NEVER forget the first few verses. Having to start at the beginning of the chapter, I said the first few verses the most times…thus, they are forever etched into my memory bank. My son, do not forget my teaching. Either that is ironic, or great planning on the part of wise parents.
The bicycle is long gone – sold at a garage sale when I was in the 8th grade. But the scripture I had to memorize to get the bike has paid off WAY more than any old bike. Now, I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do to bribe your kids into memorizing scripture, but I am saying that any way you can get them to do so will be for their benefit, and your own.
Now, the chapter its self has an over arching theme that is very simple. Solomon states a virtue, and then states the benefits of attaining or living out that virtue. It can be simply stated as “Do the right thing”. Who knew…Spike Lee had it right all along.
Verse 24 has perhaps the most impact on WHY we need to do the right thing. It simply states that, if you do the right thing, “when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet”. I’m sure all of us, at some point, have done things in our lives that have gnawed at our bellies when we’re trying to sleep. Those things that keep you up at night, much more than the every day “did I close the garage door or not” type of things. The things we’ve been putting off even though they are the right thing to do, but may be a difficult thing to do. The longer we put them off, the more it gnaws at us, the more restless we become. We know it can all be resolved if we just give it up to God and Do The Right Thing!
It’s amazing the peace that comes from doing what is right. Even if the result is not to our benefit, doing right brings about peace. Knowing that we have pleased God puts our hearts at rest. Knowing we are in good relationship with Him makes even our SLEEP better. Doing the right thing means that He will “bless the house of the righteous”.
When in doubt, just do the right thing…then get some sleep.
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