Invest Now!

Invest Now!

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 KJV

Dedicate your children to God and point them in the way that they should go, and the values they’ve learned from you will be with them for life. Proverbs 22:6 TPT

Open sources, such as Google, define 'Train' as to: 'teach a person a particular skill or type of behaviour through sustained practice and instruction. So, from the outset, we know that what today's extract tries to show us is that the responsibility of training children is non-negotiable and must be done from the point of clear knowledge of what is required. How do I train a child if I have not been trained myself in the things I want to impart? How do I train children, if I am myself rebellious to authority. How do I instill obedience in a child if there is no personal example to show? This is one of the saddest realities of our time, where examples worthy of emulation are becoming few. 

So, the task of training requires that the child is taught a way of life or action, and this is done by sustained practice. You do it over and over again until it becomes a part of you. As it has been said: practice makes perfect, and repitition strengthens memory. You don't leave the task of training a child to chance, to the Internet, to older friends or other parents like you. The task is mine as a parent, a father or mother, and God will ask for an account from me as the parent He gave me these lives to nurture. 

You don't make assumptions that the child should know what is right; no one chooses God or the right by default. Sin took care of that option. You don't learn to lie, cheat or steal, and every man, in his/her natural state, will do all of these. And you don't wait until the life is formed before you strive to shape or sharpen it. You do it while the life is still brittle and moldable. I believe that is why the bible uses a child and not an adult. Adults are mostly formed, and sometimes the impact of the world on their hearts is difficult to completely remove. But a child is open to suggestions, and the more of God you introduce to the child, the more of God the child will know and respond to. 

And your input now will stand in good stead when the child grows old. If nothing is sown, how do you look forward to a good harvest? If I have done nothing to improve a life, why should I be disappointed when that life produces nothing of value? That early investment guarantees that the child will remember what you have said and done, and in the face of the most daunting trials, have guidance as to what to do. Pity the child that has been left to his/her devices early on, and now has to take life and death decisions without any knowledge of the One who has power over everything the world can throw at him/her. 

So, am I an example anyone can emulate? Is my life a worthy reason for any child to look up to me for guidance? Remember, you cannot give what you don't have, and it is from the resources stored up in your heart that you will draw on when life makes a demand. May the Lord help me to be an example of grace to all who come near to me, and may I not be responsible for the eternal damnation of any life. His time of favour is here.