Proverbs 19.26 says, He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach. There are two kinds of children that cause shame and bring reproach mentioned in our proverb. And the first type is he that wasteth his father. I won't spend a lot of time on the father who allows this, but that's the first point we need to understand. The son who wasteth his father is a son who basically takes advantage of the well-intentioned father in most cases, who is nonetheless foolish. This father is an enabler. But I've seen fathers and mothers like this more times than I can count. They somehow come to believe that to love a child is to shield them from accountability and responsibility, and to continually bail them out and fund their wasteful, wicked living, even if it bankrupts the family. It's just stupid, foolish, and it's the opposite of love. A good father will allow his child to suffer consequences. But many fathers spend thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees and other expenses to bail out their child and keep them from suffering consequences of their own choices and their own bad behavior. A good father will not spoil a child. They won't spend their money to enable their laziness. They won't buy them everything they desire. A good father will provide opportunities and guide their child to employment so that the child can earn those expensive clothes, tech gadgets, cars, or whatever it is they set their eyes on. So, in order to waste a father, a child has to have a fool for a father. We could say a lot more on that, but our proverb is focused on the child, the son, he that wasteth his father. That child causes shame and brings reproach. And the fact is, even though the enabler father is foolish, the child could simply not take advantage of the bad parenting if that child wasn't given over to wickedness and selfishness and greed. Now my parents were never enablers, and when I was in sin and living as a rebellious, unsaved young man, they didn't help me beyond feeding me, and they gave me a place to live if I needed it. But even then, I had to work, and I was supposed to be saving money. At the time, I thought they were just terrible for doing that. I had friends and knew plenty of others who, they didn't work, they did very little in the way of college or job training, and they just mooched off of their mother and father or whoever was raising them. In some cases, it was grandparents and others, but it was no problem. They just took advantage of people. But you couldn't do that to my parents. I had to work or get out. And I'm very thankful that my parents weren't foolish and that they didn't enable me as a waster. If they had, I certainly wouldn't be here today. And of those friends that I did have whose parents did enable them, At least three that I know of are already dead, and they died as a result of their lives and lifestyles. Several others have done or are doing prison stints. just sunk into drunkenness, drug abuse, or they just disappeared. No one knows really what's going on with them. Once their enabler parents died off or just went broke and they couldn't milk them for anything else. You know, it's interesting that the fifth commandment in Exodus 20 verse 12 says this, honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. That's not just about words. You know, I honor you. The sons that waste their fathers, as the verse implies, just seem to die young, or at least younger than most, and they live miserable lives in the meantime. And it's just one more time we see it. God's Word is true. Love your parents, respect them, and show them your love and appreciation if they're still alive while you still can. In so doing, you also honor God and His Word.