What did you learn from your parents that you would call wise? I’m sure in any family there are things that are passed on from generation to generation that add value.
There was once a young couple, recently married, who were learning to live together. When one of the couple decided to cook a piece of ham for tea, they cut an inch of the bottom of the joint, before placing it into the pan of water to boil. When asked by the partner why they had done this crazy thing, they said, “When I went to my granny’s house, she cooked ham. She would always cut the bottom off. My mum always did it so that’s why I do it.” The other said, “Go and ring your mum and ask why!”. The mum said, “I do it because my mum did it. Why don’t you give granny a call!”. When they called granny, here was here response – “Ah, you see, I only had a small pan and the ham wouldn’t fit in it properly, so that’s why I chopped it off!”.
In Psalm 110:11 we read the words of King David. In Proverbs 9:10 we read the words of his son, King Solomon:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy one is understanding.”
David passed on the most important lesson of all – to love, fear and respect God in everything he did. This week, let us consider our family habits and traditions and see if we have any crazy customs, like cutting the ham. But let us also consider the words passed on from David to Solomon, that wisdom begins with acknowledging God in our lives.
