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Observe the Commandments of Your Heavenly Father

Proverbs 3:1-2 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,^[1]
but let your heart keep my commandments,
²for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.

[1] Or law

Chapter 3 opens with an exhortation for the youth to receive parental guidance into the very core of his being. He must not forsake the teaching (Heb. torah) of his mother. The son is told to let your heart keep my commandments. As was true in 2:2, “inclining your heart to discernment” and 2:10 “for wisdom will enter your heart,” this is referring to the mind, the inherent mental power of the brain with which we accumulate information, reason, and draw conclusions. In 2:1, the son is told to “treasure up my commandments with you,” which referred to the instruction that was given by the teacher of wisdom. The conjunction “for” ties the promises of this verse to the previous verses. Generally speaking, if you do (A) you will get (B). If the son, does not ignore the father’s instruction, and does not forsake his mother’s teaching, and keeps the commandments, length of days and years of life and peace will add to his life as God promised in Exodus 20:12, “‘Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Jehovah your God gives you.’”

The most important point at the outset, which we need to keep in mind, regardless of whether we are talking about a human relationship or a relationship with our heavenly Father is; it should always be based on a value system, a moral code, one’s worldview of life. If we have a friend that does not share our values, because he believes in things that are morally wrong, it will not be long before the friendship grows apart. Worse still, there is the ever-present danger that we will adopt his system and abandon our own.

Jehovah God will never abandon his values. His values are perfect and are something to be desired. To be friends with Jehovah God, we must adopt his value system. To draw close to God as James mentioned means that we must have the same value system as outlined in God’s Word. While Solomon is the inspired writer, Jehovah God is the author. Let us go back to James for 4:8. James informs us, if we ‘draw near God, he will draw near us.’ However, that it James 4:8a, the latter half of that verse qualifies what must be done in order to draw near God. The second half of that verse says we need ‘to recognize that we are sinners, cleanse our hands, and purify our hearts.’ The use of religious ceremonial language is sending a moral message to the reader. To cleanse our hands is to stop all wrongdoing that we may be doing and clean up our lives. To purify our hearts is to remove all wrong thinking that we carry on in our lives, meaning that we clean up our inner person as well.

Proverbs three is expecting no less because right away we are told that if we are going to be a friend of God, we must know his teachings, and be living by them. We are to have his laws written on our heart, meaning that every motivation we have in life, will be geared in the direction of his teachings. Remember the Bible promises that relate to human activity are not absolutes. In other, if you do (A) you will get (B) is not an absolute guarantee. This is not how this literary device works. It is best understood, if you place a qualifier at the beginning, such as generally speaking, usually, normally, most often, if you do (A) you will get (B). Thus, if we do not forget Jehovah’s teachings, normally, we can expect that we will live longer, as well as having a more peaceful life.

We cannot stop unforeseen occurrences in this system of things, which may lead to an early death. If we follow Jehovah’s teaching, but end up being hit by a car, or are the victim of a natural disaster, or get an incurable disease, we are not going to live longer, and peace will not be. However, there is everlasting life, which is outside of what was meant here, but that can bring us peace of mind in any event. However, if we look at the life of a person that violates traffic laws, smokes tobacco, lives an immoral life, and lives in an area plagued with natural disasters, he is more likely to suffer the ills of his actions.