Proverbs 4 shows us the beauty of multi-generational faithfulness. One man’s decision to teach his son wisdom created a ripple effect that reached all the way to his grandson. One grandfather’s obedience became his son’s testimony and his grandson’s inheritance.

I think one of the most moving moments in the early chapters of Proverbs is in chapter four.

We watch a father as he is teaching his son about wisdom, but instead of just giving commands, like I’m prone to do, he opens up and gets personal.

He says, “When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me…” (Proverbs 4:3-4).

This is gut wrenching when you consider the reality behind it. The wisdom this father is passing down didn’t start with him. No, It started with his own father, indeed it started with the grandpa. It was one generation’s faithfulness that became the next generation’s inheritance.

More than this, I think it’s interesting that this grandfather never gets named and we never hear him speak directly in the text. Yet it’s obvious his words carried so much weight that years later, his son is still repeating them with passion:

“Get wisdom! Get insight! Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.”
—Proverbs 4:5-6

It’s amazing to see how his investment was still speaking decades later.

I know this same reality from my own life. My grandpa stepped in when I didn’t really have a strong father figure around. Yet, every Sunday, without fail, he would drive thirty minutes each way just to pick me up for church. But he didn’t just give me a ride, he spoke truth into my life. He poured God’s Word into a young boy who was hungry for direction. Even a young boy who had no idea he needed direction.

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