What's Hanging Around Your Neck?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Proverbs 1:7-9 NIV

In teaching the role of words in a sentence and in understanding word usage, it is important to note that a pronoun can never be used without an antecedent (the noun it is replacing). Looking at verse 9 in this passage--"They" is referencing instructions and teaching. If obey the instructions and teaching received from parents becomes grace on our heads and adornments around our necks, how on earth did we get to the place in which so much sin abides in the world?

By deductive reasoning we can conclude that since there is so much sin in the world that one of two things have happened: either parents are not instructing and teaching children how to do what's right or the children have deliberately disobeyed and ignored the instruction and teaching of the parents.
On a natural level--the interaction between a parent and child most people can relate to this.
However, on a spiritual level, most have apparently missed the intent--God is our Father and we are His children--therefore, we should obey His instruction and honor His teaching.

When we ignore and disobey His instruction and teaching our heads explode with delusional thinking--we can get away with it and even entice others to ignore and disobey, not realizing what we have set ourselves up for with the consequences. "We should never be a stumbling block to others."When we're exposed our heads hang in shame and guilt, while our necks strain from the weight of our hanging heads. The foolish can never hold their heads high--unashamed of their deeds because there is no pride in being foolish.

Given this thought--about instructions and teaching--what's hanging around your neck? Is it pride in honoring God's Word or shame and guilt from ignoring it?

Lord, help us to develop and maintain reverential fear of You in obedience to Your Word so all might see wisdom enacted in our lives as we honor Your instruction and teachings.