Before you even start reading, please know that I’m by no means casting any stones. I’m a work in progress. I just reveal what God reveals to me.
“Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:20-21
Oh me oh my. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “Raising children is not for sissies.” (Click here to read these three journal entries on parenting.)
When I read today’s scripture, it made me think of a country song that I’ve been hearing on the radio lately by Frankie Ballard called “Young & Crazy”.
In the chorus of the song it ends by saying, “How am I ever gonna get old and wise if I ain’t ever young and crazy.”
Now let’s compare and contrast the bible verses to this song for a minute. Does God’s word say “Don’t take anyone’s advice nor learn from others mistakes, go make your own”? Hmmm, on the contrary. You must read 1 Corinthians 10. It is clearly titled, “A Warning from History”. In verse 6 Paul wrote, “These examples should stop us from wanting evil things like those people did.”
Now, someone is probably reading this and thinking, “Those mistakes/lessons from my past weren’t ‘evil’, they were fun, but it probably wasn’t the best decision when I look back on it, but it was fun at the time (*wink*wink).”
If you look up the word evil in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary you will see that it means morally bad.
I know that I did some morally bad/evil when I was “Young and Crazy”. I honestly can say that I DO NOT want my children making the same mistakes that I did.
Parents often say when their children are doing wrong or going through a certain stage in their lives, “Well, I know what I did when I was their age.” Or, “They aren’t doing as bad as I did when I was a teenager.” And the list of phrases could go on. I’ve even said it myself. But think about it…when you are a born again Christian, you are a child of God. He is The Ultimate Parent. We need to strive to be more like Him, NOT who we (parents) used to be.
We parents don’t need to make excuses for our kids. Remember…if they are Christians, they are God’s children anyhow. God didn’t call us to be ordinary, but to be EXTRAordinary.
Just imagine if they lived according to God’s will. Wow! Oh the stories they really could tell! They could tell because they weren’t ashamed, and most like could actually remember.
I have stories that I am ashamed of. I have stories that I don’t even want my momma to know, still at my age. LOL. I have stories that I pray my children never have to go through. Yes, I have stories that make me laugh, but I’m not always proud of them. Oh, enough about me, let’s get back to the scripture at hand.
“Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:20-21
So, no, the bible doesn’t instruct us to make mistakes. There will be bumps along our path, but when we walk with God, He has a tendency of making those paths straight.
Where are we supposed to get all this advice and instruction from? The bible. God’s word is the Instruction Book for Living. And like 1 Corinthians 10 informed us that we are to learn from others mistakes. We don’t have to (as Beth Moore says) “take that field trip ourselves”. By all means, learn from others. When we open, read, and apply God’s word and learn from others we gain wisdom. The bible is slam full of verses on wisdom. Here’s a few to get you started.
Let’s go back to the country song, and take it literally (I KNOW it’s just a song, but these words do get ingrained in minds). Verse two of “Young & Crazy” says,

Now I might have to kiss not telling how many lips before I ever really figure out what love is.

Go through some heartbreaks, wake up with headaches, don’t learn nothing ‘til you make a lot of mistakes.

How will I know where to draw the line if I don’t cross it a few hundred times?

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No, you don’t. You really don’t have to kiss a lot of lips to figure out what love is.  God is love. When we focus on Him and His will for our lives, we really could end up kissing a lot less to find your true love. If you youngins will stop worrying about who you’re going to date and marry and just fall in love with Jesus, you just might be pleasantly surprised that He’s got you in the palm of His hands and has great plans for you without you going through an unpleasant search yourself.
A few hundred times? Yikes! All I’m going to say is “draw the line” when you become a child of God. You are a new creation. He has, can, and will transform your life. Allow God to be God and you can relax for being in command.
“Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:20-21
So to wrap things up:

• Learn from others mistakes.
• Let the bible be your Instruction Book for Life.
• Be wise. Don’t be a fool. You won’t come off as being a prude, you’ll be smart and not look so stupid. (I’ve actually been called a prude. So be it. I’d rather be that than make the crazy mistake I could have made. Just sayin’.)
• Dream big for your life. Just be ready to be flexible because God may turn you a bit for what’s best.
• Want what God wants for you. His will is grand!

I pray many blessings and much JOY for you! Have a wonderful day. – Stephanie
 

1 Corinthians 10 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Warning From History

10 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know what happened to our ancestors who were with Moses. They were all under the cloud, and they all walked through the sea. ² They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ They all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and they all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from that spiritual rock that was with them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ But God was not pleased with most of those people, so they were killed in the desert.
⁶ And these things that happened are examples for us. These examples should stop us from wanting evil things like those people did. ⁷ Don’t worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people sat down to eat and drink and then got up to have a wild party.” ⁸ We should not commit sexual sins as some of them did. In one day 23,000 of them died because of their sin. ⁹ We should not test Christ as some of them did. Because of that, they were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ And don’t complain as some of them did. Because they complained, they were killed by the angel that destroys.
¹¹ The things that happened to those people are examples. They were written to be warnings for us. We live in the time that all those past histories were pointing to. ¹² So anyone who thinks they are standing strong should be careful that they don’t fall. ¹³ The only temptations that you have are the same temptations that all people have. But you can trust God. He will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. But when you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape that temptation. Then you will be able to endure it…”
(Click here to read 1 Corinthians 10 in its entirety. You won’t regret it!)
 

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