A Father’s Instruction
1 Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,
And give attention that you may [a]gain understanding,
2 For I give you [b]sound teaching;
Do not abandon my [c]instruction.
3 When I was a son to my father,
Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,
4 Then he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
Keep my commandments and live;
5 Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.
7 “The [d]beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding.
8 “Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
9 “She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”
10 Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.
11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And [e]they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they [f]stumble.
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them
And health to all [g]their body.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious [h]speech far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your [i]gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
26 Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.
Footnotes:
a Proverbs 4:1 Lit know
b Proverbs 4:2 Lit good
c Proverbs 4:2 Or law
d Proverbs 4:7 Or the primary thing is wisdom
e Proverbs 4:16 Lit their sleep is robbed
f Proverbs 4:19 Or may stumble
g Proverbs 4:22 Lit his
h Proverbs 4:24 Or lips
i Proverbs 4:25 Or eyelids
Waiting For the Word’s commentary:
GOD the FATHER
Throughout Jesus’ ministry he talked about doing the will of the Father. He said that he was going to the Father and he wanted us to be there as well. Jesus said that he and the Father are one: “If you have known Me then you have also known the Father.” The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John include many references to the Father and Jesus’ relationship with his Father as well as their desire for us to be part of God’s family in heaven.
Obedience to the Father was the one desire of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if this was His primary goal and purpose, then obedience is most certainly a necessary and essential part of our relationship with God as well.
This scripture from proverbs 4 needs to be read today. There are many reasons why. I bet you can think of 5 good reasons in less than a minute.
CR
Posted by Chris 
Wings of the Wind 
Bono Meets Eugene Peterson
May 12, 2016Source
By Pastor Jim Jenkins
It’s entirely possible to look at something so long that you can’t really see it anymore. For years I have been calling people back to simple faith in the inerrancy of God’s Word. I’ve been patronized, mocked and more times than not, simply ignored.
I completed my doctorate at Fuller Seminary at the height of the Church Growth movement. I was exposed to all the marketing influence, the obsession with numerical growth of churches—and it was there that I was first introduced to the term “Progressive Christian.”
We were required to read the book Marketing the Church by George Barna. Some notables at Fuller at the time were C. Peter Wagner, Bob Logan, Carl George, and Eddie Gibbs. The message that permeated the core of the Doctor of Ministry Degree program was that the Church needed to be run as a business, and that the message needed to be contextualized against the backdrop of the culture.
Today Fuller Seminary rolled out its inaugural video of a new media site FULLER studio. It is a 20-minute piece featuring Eugene Peterson, author of The Message Bible which sold 17,000,000 copies, and the rock star Bono. They are discussing their joint affinity for the Psalms. Accompanying the video is the above picture of Bono with the Petersons at their home in Montana. Bono is lifting his index finger. Many believers would say, “Oh, I didn’t know Bono was a Christian.”
Here is another picture of Bono that more accurately depicts his view of Christianity He is sporting a headband with the COEXIST motto.
I saw a video of one of U-2’s concerts in which Bono is leading the thousands of fans in a song and he begins to speak almost in a whisper, “Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha all the same. Jesus Mohammed, Buddha all the same.” He is pointing with the index finger to the headband.
The rest of the April 4, 2016 article can be found here.
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As Mr. Peterson has found it okay to add words to the original texts of scripture, he is not to be trusted in any way. It is quite obvious that Bono’s theology is a bit mixed up, also. This is a very interesting article.
CR
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