The Bible is full of pictures of ‘twos’ that are opposite. Read through chapters 1-9 of Proverbs for a really good comparison of these two opposites. Proverbs is a collection of teachings and sayings from Solomon and others. It teaches in a ‘parable’ format. Here's the storyline:
It’s the father’s turn to instruct his son. You see, the first few years of a son’s life, his mother instructed him in things like how to live together with others, how to share, how to give…that was called a ‘mother’s torah’ or a mother’s instruction (torah is a Hebrew word meaning instruction, guidance, teaching and rules). Then the boy received instruction from his father…father’s torah. And father spoke more plainly of the things the boy would face as he grew into adulthood. He spoke more clearly about the subtleties of temptation. In this case, the father compared these two choices that we all face in life, to two women. One was a woman who'd make a good wife, and who'd share a good life with the son. And the other was one who SEEMED good, who was attractive to the senses, in some cases you couldn’t tell them apart too well…but that woman’s ways would lead to death. The father’s role was to sharpen the boy’s understanding and help him choose. It’s a really good lesson!
If you skip over all the rest of Proverbs…you get to chapter 31. There the words of King Lemuel are recorded. It seems he might be the one to whom the words of instruction in the first chapters were directed. Here the teaching is back to his mother’s torah…she has the last word! And she describes the characteristics of a ‘good’ wife. Now some people think this is a description of the ‘perfect’ wife…and they get discouraged if they aren’t anything like her…but that’s not the intent of this teaching…the intent is to describe the characteristics…and the teaching is as much for women as for men. It is the WIFE who brings life to a household, who holds potential to help keep the family together, who's the ‘heartbeat’ of the family…her role is important! The husband’s role is equally important, the two are to work together. But as you can read in Genesis 3…it's the WIFE who's often in a position to choose the direction of the family. It's SO important that she choose well. This is what the father and mother are teaching their son. The only choice the boy needs to make is the good one!
We too have choices to make all the time. We too have a ‘teacher’ with us all the time. God has given us all a conscience…it's to be our guide. That conscience instinctively knows what the good way is. Even a little child KNOWS good from bad. Ever seen how a little one might hit another child and take a toy away from them? What's usually the first movement they make? They shield the toy with their body…its MINE, you can’t have it back! It’s as if they know instinctively that what they have done isn't honest, and they hide (see also Genesis 3:8,10).
Moses taught that this teacher God gives is ‘very near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart (mind) that you may be able to observe it’ (Deuteronomy 30:14). The conscience God gave doesn’t ever speak against His command!
But there's another voice there too! And just like that other woman in Proverbs…you can’t always tell the difference. Sometimes that voice sounds really good; it appeals to us on an emotional, physical or spiritual level. And if we listen and do what that voice suggests, we move from the path of life to the path of death.
How do we know which voice to listen to then? Well…just as the father in Proverbs tells his son…you need to KNOW the good way, in order to recognize the difference. And learning the good way BEGINS with healthy and strong respect for the GIVER of the good way.
Fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (of understanding the way), it says in Proverbs 1:7. The place we begin is to TRUST in God, the giver of all we face. In that trust, we study His instructions. And also in that trust, we begin to apply what we learn to our life. Whatever state our life is in. Whether we have much or whether we don’t, whether our prior choices have been good or not…we allow God to give us HIS teaching, when in trust, we study His instructions, when we sincerely want to live them out, and in all the baby steps we take to do that.
And we constantly test that voice we hear…test all things that you hear; hold onto what is good (what lines up consistently with God’s instruction) is recommended in 1 Thessalonians 5:21. In time, as we learn to tell the difference between the good voice and the voice that only sounds good, and as we actively rely on God’s way (Proverbs 3:5-6) and resist that other voice, it eventually becomes quieter. In James 4:7 we read the recommendation to ‘submit yourselves to God’s authourity and stand against satan…and he will FLEE from you!’
God intends for us to be whole people, able to do the work He intends for us to do (Genesis 1:26, 28). But we have to choose to receive that wholeness through His training and relying on Him. It’s a process of decisions, and often they can seem like very small decisions! God sees the small things too! It all comes from Him, it is all for Him…but He shares His goodness with us. What a privilege to be able to share God’s good things, to see them in every situation, in the easy ones as well as in the harder ones!
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