Start Right!

Start Right!

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

Context:

Once again, we look at the book of one-line messages, and the focus is on the family life as the bedrock of all that God wants to do in a society. When you look at the current status of any society, the background and history of the individuals who make up that society is a window into how that society has arrived at its current state. Wherever it is I am right now, and whatever it is I see around me, can I consider very critically and honestly too how we came to where we are? 

Message and Response:

We lament the loss of morals and respect for elders; we complain that children no longer know the value of hard and honest work; we look back at 'the good old days' and wonder where they all went, but we do not ever look at ourselves and wonder if we have anything to do with it. It is always about someone of something else: the environment, the school curriculum, the change in diet; never about ourselves. Until we realise and accept our role in the development of our children, we will never realise the importance of the assignment God has given us.

The best time to start to invest in the life of a child is right now. The second best time is also right now. The emphasis on a child is significant; how much value can you put on the training of an adult? How do you change am adult's preferences or prejudices? The choice of words: 'train up' is also significant; a child needs to be trained up to become that which will glorify God. It is a step up in the right direction, a clear message that investing in a child is your life's best investment. 

And of course, you can't train up a child in the way he should go if you do not know the right way yourself. What horrible hypocrisy would it be if I knew what to tell a child, yet my life is the complete opposite of that which I try to teach? We are masters at deception, able to say one thing and do the very opposite. That is not God's prescription for bringing up a child; I must show and tell a child what is right by God's standard. I owe it to God, if I am truly his child, to reflect his nature and show him off. 

That investment in a child's life has eternal consequences. Like a clean slate, whatever is written on the heart of a child stays there the longest. Long before the pressure of teenage romance, youthful exuberance or adult misbehaviour starts, the right investment in a child's life will be the constant reminder of what is right in God's sight. Pity the child with no right examples; pity the child with no memories of what it means to be taught the way of the Lord. Like it was pointed out at the beginning, we look at our society today and we do not like what we see, yet we are unable to process the fact that maybe we have contributed to the rot. 

It is not a bad thing to have a great work career or a thriving business, but must it be at the expense of a child's proper upbringing? We remember and claim all of Abraham's blessings by faith, but do we know the works he had to do to receive such blessings? Look at God's view of Abraham: For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. Genesis 18:17‭-‬19 KJV. God was sure of Abraham's investment of time and resources in his children, and it is not a wonder that he became such a blessing. If I will claim by faith that which Abraham secured from God, I had better be ready to also put in the labour and work that he also put in.

I think about this right now: Can God place the life of any child in my hands right now? In fact, the one or ones he has already given me, how am I training them up in the way they should go? There seems to be an assurance from God that if I take time to invest in a child, he is able to keep that child in that right way up to old age. God will play his part because he is faithful; would I also be faithful to my own part? His time of favour is here. 

Eternal consequence of training and upbringing