"Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom"

That is a section heading in my Bible in Proverbs chapter 1. Normally I don't pay much attention to those headings, but that one really caught my attention. It made sense, but I felt the need to look up the word, "Exhortations".


Trusty dictionary.com gave me this definition:


 an utterance, discourse, or address conveying urgent advice or recommendations.
 
 
So, I concluded that this heading was identifying the section I was about to read as something of 'great urgency'. I put on my concentration cap, and was determined to find something good :-]
 
Commence reading Proverbs Chapter 1, beginning at verse 8.
 
"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake you mother's teaching."
 
*cha ching
 
Now, I don't know what I would do without my dad! Life throws so many hard decisions at you at a rate that would throw a Whirling Dervish out a whirl! Now that I have a Sound of Music song stuck in your head, I will continue :)
So basically, I feel like I'm always going to my dad for instruction and advice.


The second part of this verse says:


".....and do not forsake your mother's teaching."




 
Back to dictionary.com:  Forsake
 
to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert
 

Maybe if I had read this verse of few weeks ago, I wouldn't have thought too much about it. I grew up in the church and have heard this kind of teaching my whole life. "I know this already." However, with recent circumstances, the second part of this verse really hit home with me.

Maybe I'm biased, but I strongly believe that my Mom was included in the group 'The most intelligent people that walked this earth'. :) She always seemed to have an abundance of knowledge on any given subject. On rare occasion this could get annoying.....like when you would be in an argument with her and eventually realize that she was right, and that would just make you even more upset :)

However, 95% of the time I would find myself so thankful that she knew so much! I knew I could ask mom anything, and she would have some amazing words of wisdom for me. She never overused this though; many times her answer to me would be that I should figure a particular problem-dilemma-or whatever out by myself. Whatever the circumstance was, by the time it was all figured out, I would discover that mom had been right all along. It was a comfort knowing I could always go to her for teaching, wisdom, advice...etc. I 'embraced' her wisdom.

Proverbs 1:8 is telling me to not Forsake this teaching/wisdom.

"Do not 'quit' your mother's teaching"

"Do not 'abandon' your mother's teaching"

"Do not 'desert' your mother's teaching"

I sat there staring at the page. How can I not 'quit, abandon, or desert' my mother's teaching when she isn't here for me to go to every day? I remember a lot of the stuff she taught me over the years but after time, when she isn't here to 'refresh my memory', how will I keep all of her wisdom in my head? 15 years from now when I'm in the middle of a crisis how am I going to recall all of this? 

These were NOT comforting thoughts!

As I sat there beginning to panic a little, I heard a small voice in my head.

"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you"

Ahhh! I search my concordance (thanks to Mom and Dad who bought me a bible with an amazing concordance!) for the word comfort, and there it was. Isaiah 66:13.

"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you"

So even though when I read Proverbs 1:8 and thought, "I know this already", God had something else he wanted me to get out of it. 

Even though Mom is not with us anymore, I can't go to her everyday for that teaching, and I've lost that comfort that only a mom can give, I still have JESUS! He wants me to Embrace Him!

HE wants to comfort me. HE wants to be the one I go to for wisdom. When I'm in a crisis or dilemma HE wants to be my answer.

Even a little thing like proof-reading a new post before I published it was something Mom would always do.....I never published a post without her advice on its contents. I cherished her advice. However, now I say a short prayer before I start typing, and trust God that I will be able get through it without her wise comments and edits.

Just as God used this verse to remind me to 'Embrace Him', I pray that it also reminds you!
He wants you to embrace Him. He wants to be that voice in your head offering wisdom.

Relationships fail you, friends fail you, and death may rob you of a loved one. But God will never fail you. He will ALWAYS be there. Embrace Him!