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Parenting by the Book

Proverbs   Study
Study 56

STUDY 56

Text: Proverbs 6:12-15
21 July 2002

Dear Parents,

THE DANGER OF WICKEDNESS
One of the themes that the Book of Proverbs mentions constantly is the problem of “wickedness”. Can our children end up being wicked? Unfortunately, the answer is “It is possible!” Let us do everything we can to prevent this problem from becoming a reality in our children’s life. Let us consider this text that describes the wicked person.

A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers.

Proverbs 6:12-13

The wicked man is described as a man of no worth! Let us take time to fathom what the writer meant in this text.

UNDERSTANDING THE IDIOM OF THE WRITER
How does one describe the wicked worthless man? The description here is by no means exhaustive, but the writer effectively paints the picture of the wicked man in this text.

1. “A perverse mouth”

You can tell that a man is wicked by the way he speaks. Let us teach our children how to be honest and upright in their speech. If they learn how to be perverse with their mouth, then they will learn how to walk as their mouth teaches them.

If our children learn how to pick up street language and if they learn how to be cunning and sly, then they will end up walking that way in time to come!

2. Body Language

The Biblical writer did not have a phrase called “body language” in his time, but it is obvious that the concept of “body language” is mentioned here. The writer must have observed how wicked people behave.

On the one hand, their speech seems to be communicating one message. On the other hand, he seems to be communicating another by his body language. His winks, he shuffles, he points with his fingers… these were giveaway signs that the person is not speaking the truth. His body language gives him away.

THE POINT OF IT ALL
The challenge for all parents is to pray and to work hard at teaching their children how to grow up upright. If they can grow up living righteously, then we need never fear that they would become perverse or wicked. Let us teach our children how to live uprightly. We would be doing them a big favour even if the lessons are hard to teach.

Prayerfully,
Pastor Charlie

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