The word "life" runs all through this chapter. "Keep my commandments, and live." "Guard her" (wisdom, that is), "for she is your life." "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

This word from God teaches us that wisdom is the source of life. Is that what you thought?

If I'm flipping pancakes, my kids want a turn with the spatula. If I'm slicing apples, they want a turn with the knife. If I mow the lawn, they want to try out the lawnmower. Whatever tool Papa's using, the kids want to use it too. They're born to imitate, and it's a beautiful thing.

As children are made to imitate their parents, human beings are made to imitate God.

Finally, we've gotten to some proverbs! After two chapters convincing his son to seek wisdom, the father starts to deliver some of those practical pieces of advice we all love. (He isn't done praising wisdom, though. We'll get more of that in the next section.)

This passage gives us six rules to live by. Here they are: (1) Remember these teachings,

Once my dad and I were ordering lunch at the counter of a cafe, and he dropped what he thought was a nickel. It rolled under the counter, and we bent down to look for it, but we quickly gave up. We weren’t about to lie flat on the ground in the middle of a coffee shop to search for a nickel.

Only on the way to the airport did we realize that what he had dropped was his wedding ring. If we had known

Proverbs is a book for young men. Young man, it says, listen to your mother and your father.

The King of Wisdom became a fool for us and is calling out “Listen to Me.”