PROVERB CONSIDERED: “Ọmọ tí àgbẹ̀-ẹ́bí, oko ni yó ro; ọmọ tí Gàm̀bàrí bí, okùn ni yó ran.”
ENGLISH TRANSLATION: "The child born by a farmer will engage in farming; the child born by a Hausa man will engage in rope weaving."
MEANING & BIBLICAL APPLICATION: This is one of those proverbs that sound like a hasty (or even myopic) generalisation. Factually, not every farmer's child goes on to become a farmer and not every Hausa man's child will weave ropes. However, to treat the proverb like that is to miss the point. The point of the proverbs is rather clear: There is such a thing as "family likeness." A goat will sire a goat in the same way a lion will sire a lion. We will take after our parents (or foster parent, or guardian, or pastor, or mentor . . . etc), at least in certain respect and to some certain degree. As Barry Hallen noted, "Proverbs do not introduce themselves to us as universal truths, as generalizations that always apply. Their pith, their point, their punch is situational or context-dependent to an essential degree."
If we think of this proverb biblically, therefore, an essential scriptural truth comes alive: We are supposed to take after our Heavenly Father! In fact, this is the reality unto which every child of God is predestined!
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29 ESV). “God, in his foreknowledge, chose [us] to bear the family likeness of his Son, that he might be the eldest of a family of many brothers” (Romans 8:29 PHILLIPS). “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him” (Romans 8:29 MSG). “. . . And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18 MSG). “. . . as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18 TLB).
In a nutshell, “all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 AMPC)
This leaves each of us with a rather personal question: “How is your transformation and transfiguration going?” Each of us will have to take responsibility for our part in this process. As the AMPC hinted in 2 Corinthians 3:18, the tool by which this transformation happens is the Word of God. What’s your relationship with the Word of God like as you dig into 2023 in full?
May we be faithful to our individual sanctification process as God supplies the grace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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