“Stop listening to instruction, my son,
and you will stray from the words of knowledge.”

As we looked at this proverb to explore the wisdom it taught, we were surprised to see a mirror reflection of proverb 19:20. Much like the multiples of 9, you see the reflection as you pass from 45 to 54, the following numbers follow the pattern. And like that pattern, the two proverbs mirror each other in form and meaning. If you stop listening, not only will you not be “counted among the wise”, you will be counted among a different group, the fools. You will stray and be lost to the discernment from the advice you could have gained. This “Core” proverb revealed the price of disobedience by looking at the other side of the apple, the dark side of the moon.

We then looked again for how Jesus fulfilled this proverb. He is the Word, John 1, there is no greater knowledge than knowing Him. He is Way, John 14:6, and as we follow Him, we will not stray. And just as Jesus submitted to the Father and became the “source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him”, Hebrews 5:9, if He didn’t, then there would be no salvation and we would all be lost doomed to stray in the darkness for He is the Light of the world, John 8:12.

My kids met a man the other day who questioned them about Jesus. He asked, “Why don’t you believe in a god that has a cooler name?” As my kids see first hand how Jesus fulfilled all wisdom, was the new Adam that opened the way for us to be new creations and provided salvation for all who obey Him, they truly understood Acts 4:12. For when it comes to names:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”