Taking Good Advice

Do you know that God is a very loving Father and that He desires the best for us?

His word is filled with good advice. Just like we try to impart good advice to our children, God has written a book of daily life advice for us to follow, to live by.

Why? Because He wants nothing but the best of us.

I want to share just a couple of things that jumped off the pages of the Bible this morning.

“My child, if you listen and obey my teachings, you will live a long time. ¹¹ I have shown you the way that makes sense; I have guided you along the right path. ¹² Your road won’t be blocked, and you won’t stumble when you run. ¹³ Hold firmly to my teaching and never let go. It will mean life for you. ¹⁴ Don’t follow the bad example of cruel and evil people…My child, listen carefully to everything I say. ²¹ Don’t forget a single word, but think about it all.
²² Knowing these teachings will mean true life and good health for you. ²³ Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.” Proverbs 4:10-23 CEV

Those are the words of Solomon who was endowed with an abundance of wisdom. Next, we have the words of the Apostle Paul to his disciple Titus.

“God has shown us undeserved grace by coming to save all people. ¹² He taught us to give up our wicked ways and our worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this world. ¹³ We are filled with hope, as we wait for the glorious return of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹⁴  He gave himself to rescue us from everything evil and to make our hearts pure. He wanted us to be his own people and to be eager to do right. ¹⁵ Teach these things, as you use your full authority to encourage and correct people. Make sure you earn everyone’s respect.  Remind your people to obey the rulers and authorities and not to be rebellious. (Chapter 3) They must always be ready to do something helpful ² and not say cruel things or argue. They shouldbe gentle and kind to everyone. ³ We used to be stupid, disobedient, and foolish, as well as slaves of all sorts of desires and pleasures. We were evil and jealous. Everyone hated us, and we hated everyone.

⁴ God our Savior showed us how good and kind he is. ⁵ He saved us because of his mercy,
and not because of any good things we have done. God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning. ⁶ God sent Jesus Christ our Savior to give us his Spirit. ⁷ Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life. ⁸ This message is certainly true. These teachings are useful and helpful for everyone. I want you to insist that the people follow them, so that all who have faith in God will be sure to do good deeds.” Titus 2:11 – 3:8 CEV

As parents we have all given advice to our children, advice that we feel is good. God’s advice to us as His children is much better, more reliable and always true. We do well when we follow His teachings!