A Little Advice

(Proverbs 5:7 KJV)  Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Are you good at taking advice?  I don’t think I am.  Sure, I listen and I may even try to apply it but what I find is that I have a hard time doing things like other people do.  This applies in many ways.  Take teaching.  I first noticed this in Sunday School but it became even more clear as I took a job in pubic schools.  My first full time teaching job worked out great for me.  They were desperate.  The original teacher of the class quit after two weeks.  Six weeks after that they still had no prospects.  They grabbed me before I could change my mind.  They handed me a thick, district guide for the class.  I remember it had a yellow cover and it was one of a set for all subjects the district had put together.  They gave me a text book and a class full of wild children and walked away.

It worked well for me.  All I really needed was a general guideline for what they wanted to cover and a copy of the book the kids would be using and I could take it from there.  Years later they were trying to micro manage what went on each day in each period.  I would have died in that atmosphere because I don’t do things the way others do them.  I did not want them telling me what to do.  At the same time I did listen to the advice of teachers around me who were in the trenches.

So?  God holds us accountable.  He gives us the tools we need to live righteous lives.  He gives us the Holy Spirit.  He also puts people around us that can give us pointers.  Ignoring them may not make it impossible to live right but listening can be a read advantage.