Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 163 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Proverbs 4:1-9 Teaching Wisdom

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 163 of our Trek. Yesterday we discovered how Life is Like a Word Well Spoken, or in other words, we need to understand how important our words are every day. Today we are going to return to camp for a few days, sit around the campfire, and discuss the 4th chapter of Proverbs. If you miss any days of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. We have returned from the Podcasters Paradise cruise, and I have to say, it was one of the best and most valuable conferences that we have ever attended. The small group of podcasters and the high caliber speakers along with the cruise venue really made it a great week. We made new friends, and we have returned with a renewed vigor to make Wisdom-Trek even more impactful and have solidified plans for our next step within the podcasting community.  I will be announcing those plans over the next few weeks as we begin to finalize some of the details. Keep listening each day for additional details.

After such a busy trek over this past 10 days where we compared life to various topics, we will remain at camp for the next few days as we dig for more wisdom nuggets that are contained in the book of Proverbs chapter 4. Regardless of your spiritual persuasion, the book of Proverbs contains such great nuggets of wisdom that they can be applied to everyone’s life. As we sit around the campfire today, we drink in the crisp fall air and the smell of the burning wood, which sets the environment for reflection and contemplation. It is absolutely necessary that we take time in our lives, even on a daily basis, for reflection and contemplation. These are the times when we become creative and energized to make an impact on the lives of others.

Proverbs 4:1-9

As we start digging into the 4th chapter of Proverbs, it is important to know that the first 9 verses of this chapter in the original Hebrew language were in the form of a poem. This poem is not just about Solomon’s family. It is about all families. As parents, we are responsible for teaching our children. Even as grandparents, we can have a significant impact on our grandchildren. This is training that needs to be passed down through each generation. As your children and grandchildren grow older, they are responsible for their own children.

Solomon’s family was Israel’s royal family. In the poem, the father does not teach about being a king or royalty. He does not speak about wealth and money. He does not explain how to lead the nation. For this father, only one thing matters. His children must learn wisdom.

We can teach our children about many things. We must not forget to teach them wisdom. This is the most important lesson of all.

Let’s start with verses 1 & 2.

1 My children,  listen when your father corrects you.

Pay attention and learn good judgment,

2 for I am giving you good guidance.

Don’t turn away from my instructions.

The poem begins with commands to listen. The father will teach a valuable lesson to his children.

3 For I, too, was once my father’s son,

tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.

The advice did not begin with the father, who is writing the poem. The father learned this lesson from his own father. The lesson is good because it is ancient. Grandfather followed this advice. And he saw that it was good advice.