A Closer Walk

The fictional character Mother Hubbard apparently was already widely familiar when Edmund Spencer published the satire "Mother Hubberd's Tale" in 1590. The first stanza of the nursery rhyme "Old Mother Hubbard" states, "Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard, to give the poor dog a bone; When she came there, The cupboard was bare, And so the poor dog had none". The nursery rhyme about Mother Hubbard has long been included in a collection of French fairy tales and English nursery rhymes attributed to “Mother Goose," another fictional character. The term Mother Goose made its first appearance in the English language in the early eighteenth century when Charles Perrault's collection of fairy tales was translated into English under the title "Tales of My Mother Goose." Included in this collection are such favorites as "Humpty Dumpty"; "Three Blind Mice"; "Old King Cole"; "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary"; "Miss Muffett"; "Jack and Jill"; "Baa Baa Black Sheep"; and "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe." Plus many more.

Going further back to ancient times there was a man who told fables named Aesop. Scholars believe he was a Greek slave who lived from 620-564 BC. His fables were originally related orally through story telling and were not collected into written form for three centuries after his death. Among his fables are: "The Ant and the Grasshopper"; "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"; "The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs"; "The Lion and the Mouse"; "The Mizer and his Gold"; and perhaps the most famous of Aesop's Fables, "The Tortoise and the Hare." We all have gained wisdom and knowledge, as well as lessons for life, from both Mother Goose and Aesop.
While all this may be interesting what does it have to do with us? "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope, " Romans 15:4 NASB. Aesop and Mother Goose were secular writings. But they related good, entertaining, and informative information. And especially in the case of Aesop's Fables each fable had a moral to the story and life lessons that could be learned and taken to heart. The same can be said about The Bible. The passage from Romans above refers to the Old Testament.
So does this one. “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved,” 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 NASB.
Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction. The things that happened in the Old Testament, and were recorded for us, serve as examples for us to learn from so that we may be able to live a life that is pleasing to God. Everything in the Bible is important. Important to us and important to God. If something were not important our God would not have included it in the text, His text. Our Bibles are a handy tool and a work of reference intended for our instruction and enjoyment as well as our enrichment.
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself,” quote appeared in the 1932 book, “Human Engineering,” by Harry Myers and Mason Roberts.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work,” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB.
“The B-i-b-l-e, Yes that's the book for me; I stand alone on the Word of God, The B-i-b-l-e.” Author and date unknown.