“They Are What?” 16:44

“They Are What?”
“Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.” Ezekiel 16:44

Have you ever heard, or said, “He’s a chip off the old block,” or maybe, “She is the spitting image of her mother!” Another quaint saying is, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Well, let’s get one more which I cannot say I have ever heard, but maybe you have, “The flipside of the same coin.” I guess no matter how you word it, the idea is plain; our children will be like us in some way, whether we like it or not. Our text verse says there was a proverb used in Israel, “As is the mother, so is the daughter. ” Perhaps there is more to Proverbs 22:6 … you know, “Train up a child … ” than just words on a page. Maybe much of what our children do, and say, is demonstrated to them in a visual way. It might be that some words, actions, attitudes, ideas, thoughts, sins (oops) and so on, are not learned from the neighbor kids or the children at the church or school. Yes, maybe some of these things are the unintended training from dad and mom. One of the proverbs I have heard over the years, from several different men and none of them were my dad, goes like this: “Son, (or they might use my name) don’t do as I do; just do as I say.” That is a cop-out for a dad, a boss, a Sunday School teacher, etc. Don’t expect your life to be ignored. It most likely will be mimicked! -P.H.
Prepared by Roger Fulk, from the “Baptist Bread” November 19, 2023 devotional by author Paul Heaton, Pastor, Bible Baptist Church, Lupton, MI. with permission from Tim Green, editor Baptist Bread.The Baptist Bread