Never Date a Girl Named...

Brush your teeth before bedtime.
Check the oil when you fill up your car.
Don’t take any wooden nickels.

Drink eight cups of water daily.
Don’t dive into dark water.
Always carry a little cash.

Lend a hand to a stranger in need.
Don’t talk to strangers.
Never date a girl named ___________.


Under closer inspection, some 'rules' are contradictory, some are silly, and some are dated. (I'll bet 150 years ago dads gave their kids some 'horse sense' instead of 'car talk.') And believe it or not, my dad actually instructed me to never date a girl with a first name of... (sorry, I can't tell you the name). He was quite serious...and I followed his instruction!

Every home has rules. Rules are for safety, or for health, or for good organization and order, and some...some are just the personal preferences of parents.

A story is told about a young wife who prepared a roast for her family just like her mother had taught her. She cut off one end then arranged the two pieces in her roaster. Her husband asked her why she always cut off one end of the roast before placing it in the roaster. Her reply, “That’s how my mother taught me.”

At the next family gathering she asked her mother about the roast. Her mother explained that she had been taught the exact same process by her mother. Asked by the trio about her process, the grandmother explained, “My roasting pot was too short; I had to cut off one end to make it fit.”

From time to time there are instructions that no longer fit....
So it is with man's instruction.

The wisdom and instruction (and rules) found in the Book of Proverbs must not be confused with the wisdom of men. The sayings in the Book of Proverbs are not merely common sense, or time-honored traditions, or well thought out maxims. These sayings can be trusted. They are good sayings. They are sound instruction. They are beneficial rules for life.

The Book of Proverbs is a record of God’s inspiration and revelation for man, and it is given for our benefit...so we do not have to learn by experience!

   For I give you sound teaching; 
   Do not abandon my instruction.
   --Proverbs 4:2