Monday, January 9, 2012

Train Up a Child


Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Surely, you have asked if this verse can be true, and if it is, "There has to be some meaning to it that I don't understand."

The verse means just what it says. It is not the Word of God that is suspect, but our parental aptitude. We wonder how we could have taken our kids to church week in, week out since they came home from the hospital nursery, prayed over every meal, given them all the tools to be a good Christian and then, when they move out of the house, they go wild.

I have a couple of questions. Were they raised around a TV set? Did the family have daily devotions?

Hollywood and the dominant media hate the nuclear family. They are no friend of Christianity and do all they can to steal the souls of Christian children. The ear and eye gates of innocent kids are bombarded and crashed by the garbage of godless entertainment and carnal misinformation for hours each day.

Parents, not the church, not the school, not the government and surely, not the TV, have been given the charge of bringing up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Successful Christian parenting is as simple (not easy, but simple) as the following:
Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

We are raising secular children by pouring into their malleable minds profane and irreligious information and then hoping dinner and bedtime prayers, coupled with an hour of God on Sundays will make them strong Christians.

Let's not cast aspersion on the promise of God's Word because our kids are the obvious product of what they've been taught by the world. Rather, let's shoulder the blame and commit to diligently teach them to walk in the ways of the Lord.

1 comment:

Burl Faulk Sr said...

Well Brother Gary, as usual you are right on the money, as is GOD's WORD. My parents raised me right. In a bible believing church every Sunday and Wednesday, church bible camp in the summers, etc. But I went wild. I'm talking really wild. But my parents kept praying, and when I got older, at age 27 I gave my heart and life to JESUS. HE then called me to preach and then into the prison ministry. I am able to totally relate to 'my guys' in and thru their rough times as well as in their victories when they allow GOD full reign in their lives. What I meant for evil, GOD meant for good. Thank GOD that my parents followed HIS WORD.