As we read

in Prov 6:20 from the Father comes a ‘command’ and from the mother comes ‘teaching.’  In Prov 6:23 the commandment is a ‘lamp’ and the teaching is ‘light.’ Prov 6:23 wraps up and seems to say when the father’s command and the mother’s teaching come together you get the ‘corrections of discipline’ which are ‘the way to life.’

Take a moment and think about that lamp and light imagery.

The light exists

inside the lamp. A lamp is a place where the light can burn for an extended period of time. The lamp is the rigid structure that the soothing light exists in. Without the lamp, the light doesn’t have a place to exist. The lamp provides a protected environment for the light to burn in. In the lamp the light is secure. With that imagery in mind think about this with me.

Men have a roll to play as well as women.

It’s been alluded to (father’s command, mother’s teaching)  in a couple different chapters of Proverbs already in the 31 Day Challenge. I think we’re seeing a bit of insight and parallel into how it takes both sides of God’s nature for our lives to develop correctly. God’s grace and mercy exist in the massive backdrop of His power and authority. So it is with the mother’s teaching and the father’s command, the light existing in the lamp.