“Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.”
I just saw a friends post about losing his dad. He talked about how blessed he was to have this man invest so selflessly in his life. As a result he is living a Godly life and raising children to do the same. Is this outcome guaranteed to those who live the kind of life his father did? No, but it certainly increases the odds of that being the case. Solomon is cautioning us in a very broad way to have our children in God’s context and let the children and following generations benefit from it. There are many voices that are offended by the clarity of this truth, not only expressed throughout this chapter but weaved in the rest of His Word as well. It is no accident that He uses the role of Father and Son to illustrate the first and second persons of the Trinity. The value He places on the role of family in our lives and society is inescapable. “Wedded love streams forth in blessing on all around, on children and on neighbors and fills the streets, precisely because a spouses true love is given to their spouse only.” Breaking this pattern can throw a doubt on paternity, and create insecurity at the core of both a child and spouse. The nuclear family is not a cultural invention. It’s the word and pattern of our living Father. Today live out God’s designs and watch His blessings expand. #BeTheEdge
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31 NIV
