Proverbs 4:10

 The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about accepting God’s wisdom:

Proverbs 4:10 (NASBStr)

Hear, my son, and accept my sayings

And the years of your life will be many.

My mother used to have a saying, "that only the good die young."   However, as dedicated to the Scripture as any mother, I know she must have missed the countless times Solomon stated something similar to the above verse.   Notice the following in the margins of just this one verse:  Proverbs 3:2,16; Proverbs 4:10; Proverbs 9:11; Proverbs 10:27; See also Ps. 91:16.   Those who trust in God are given some hope of life on this earth and the one to come.   Now, we can spiritualize this and make the "years of your life will be many" to include eternity, but I think that is missing the point of the comparison between wisdom and folly.  Notice the following in regard to a comparative life style:

Proverbs 10:27

The fear of the Lord prolongs life,

But the years of the wicked will be shortened.

There is plenty of evidence that shows that God is looking out for the life of the faithful and prolongs it, while at the same time He is telling the wicked their life will be shortened.   My mother was a godly women that I loved dearly.   But, she got her saying wrong.  This does not mean the wicked die young.  It means wisdom makes fir wise choices. Wise life choices make fir less pitfalls.  Less pitfalls equals less chances of dying young.