…they will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Proverbs 1:9

Good teaching is like this. You want to grasp it and never let it go. You want to apply it. Essentially you want to own it.

When I was in second grade, a kindly old teacher took me aside because I was acting up. She said, “David, you do not have to act like Joey.” She was right. I was imitating a kid named Joey and his errant ways. Her words stay with me 35 years later. She was absolutely right, I don’t have to run with the wrong crowd.

Those are simple words to be sure. But someone, perhaps it was a parent or a teacher or a mentor, taught you a lesson that has stuck with you. It’s, as the writer suggests, “a garland to grace your head and a chain around you neck.” Think about that lesson and take the time to thank that person if he/she’s still around. If not, thank God for sound wisdom from friendly sources.