Dear Dad,
Solomon spent many words cautioning and guiding his son in the Proverbs. Over and over he called to him, pleading with him to pursue the lasting attraction of wisdom over the fleeting pleasure of sin. Many times he described the value of following and fearing the Lord. And although the adulterous woman may have looked delightful with her bed of Egyptian colored linens and lips of honey, but her path led straight to the grave. And although the fool may have lived a life of perceived ease, his life always ended in destruction.
I wonder if Solomon’s son listened to his father’s advice. I wonder if he walked in integrity his whole life. Or perhaps he followed in the footsteps of his father, falling after the very temptations his father warned against. Certainly Solomon’s more famous children did not walk faithfully with the Lord. Yet despite his eventual failures, his words ring true even today.
His proverbs were personal. He writes in Proverbs 23:24, “The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him.” He wanted his son to walk in the fear of the Lord, and he found great joy in it. I suppose I will never fully understand the joy of a father watching his son walk faithfully with the Lord until I am father myself. But I think as an adult, I may understand it a little better.
I was not a faithful son. I still am not. Yet through the grace of Jesus, I pray that I am more faithful than I once was, and will one day be more faithful than I am. Oh the hours you patiently spent with me, teaching me, training me, discipling me. You consistently point me to the cross. You walk with me through sin, struggle, and defiance. You pick me up again, dust me off, and turn my face once again to the God I so often look away from. And maybe, if even only a little, I understand why. You want me to love Jesus. You want me to fight for joy in Christ with every part of me. You find great joy in seeing your own son walk with Jesus.
One of my greatest fears is that I will have children that walk away from the Lord. Yet if you could parent me, I suppose I could parent just about anyone. I want to trust Jesus like you do that he will do a work in my children. I want to trust that after 18 years of diapers, basketball games, piano lessons, and sleepovers, I can let go of my son knowing that he is in the hands of my heavenly Father. I’m never promised a perfect son, or even a son at all. But the Lord grants me one, I pray for that patience that you had with me. And someday, Lord willing, he’ll walk with his own son. May my son be my joy. And may I bring you greater joy as I find my joy in Christ.
I love you, Dad.
Philip
