Heed Your Instructors.

This is Proverbs 5:7-14 from the NET Bible:

So now, children, listen to me;
do not turn aside from the words I speak.
Keep yourself far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
lest you give your vigor to others
and your years to a cruel person,
lest strangers devour your strength,
and your labor benefit another man’s house.
And at the end of your life you will groan
when your flesh and your body are wasted away.
And you will say, “How I hated discipline!
My heart spurned reproof!
For I did not obey my teachers
and I did not heed my instructors.
I almost came to complete ruin
in the midst of the whole congregation!”

So, in the midst of the whole congregation, let’s answer these three questions from these 8 verses:

1. What happened in the text?
2. What do I learn about God?
3. What should I do about it?

1. What happened in the text?
   Children are warned to listen to their teachers to avoid the pitfalls of entanglement with the adulterous woman.
2. What do I learn about God?
   He thinks instruction and discipline are useful.
   He wants people to learn from those who are wise.
   He gives us ways to avoid wasting our lives.
3. What should I do about it?
   Be a good teacher. Easier said than done, of course, but who likes discipline? Who likes to be criticized for faults or failings? As far as that goes, how many of us as parents or teachers or whatever we are give advice worth following?
   So: discipline with the right motive and correct objective. Rebuke for things that really require rebuking. I tend to add too many things to this list – be more quiet, sit up straight, etc. – rather than focusing on issues of character or safety for reproof.