The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Proverbs 3:11-18, “For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.
14 For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.

My memory at my current age is hardly what it was when I was a child. At any rate, I can well remember hearing these non-comforting words when I was “under the rod.”

“I’m doing this,” my loving parents said, “for your own good. We want you to grow up to be a good boy.” There were additional words that accompanied the unpleasantness they handed out on this poor soul. I think I knew it then. It was for my own good that I was suffering. There were some cute little ditties my mother uttered while I was under the rod. They seemed not-to-cute at the time, yet I ultimately came to understand their value.

The “profit” that is cited in verse 14 above was, as it turned out, of much greater value than I would have believed at that time. My earthly father was a quiet man; my mother was the chief executioner. They worked well together, and I still love them both for what they were and for what they gave my sister and me. I never received punishment that I did not deserve.

The wish of verse 13 ought to be the desire of every man and boy! Failure in verse 13 demonstrates its results in verse 14. And the full results come to us in verses 15-17. Thus, the full depth of meaning lies well beyond our childish years. It reaches into adulthood and is ultimately shared as needed with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

The expression of Divine and parental love are together the tree of life; and “happy are all who hold her fast.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom