The last few weeks have been busy ones, and I have not taken the opportunity to post as often as I should. For that, I apologize!
To keep everyone up to date, I have been asked to preach on Easter Sunday. I am looking forward to the opportunity, but I have spent many hours seeking the Lord's direction for this message. Today I believe that I have the direction I have been looking for. Praise the Lord!
On a different matter, I have been meditating on this verse...
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
I truly believe that many have been in the habit of improperly applying this verse. The reason that I say this is because I have heard parents (when discussing rebellious children) say that they find comfort in this verse. They believe that their child will eventually come back to the Lord if they just give them room and make no waves.
Let me be perfectly clear when I state my opinion here...
This verse is not meant to bring comfort, it is meant to bring warning!
When we interpret this to mean that our children no longer need correction and guidance we are giving Satan a foothold in their lives. We are also allowing Satan to deceive us in regard to what the Lord has said. After all, that is what he did in Eden. He twisted what God said in order to deceive. How have we allowed Satan to take the word "depart" and change it to "come back"?
If your children are departing let it be a warning that they need more training. Is this becoming clear to you? I earnestly hope that you will not be deceived about your parental responsibility in regard to this passage.
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I completely agree that it is a warning except I am not sure why you are actually saying that. I will attempt to explain why it is a warning in my understanding. Thus, "the way he should go" is actually referring to his own unique inner bent. The sins of his heart, the propensities he has toward specific sins. So the verse is exhorting us as parents to address these sins in our children when they are young so that when they get old they do not get caught in them, unable to turn from it. There is a truth in scripture that if the heart gets use to sin(s) for some time it gets harder to repent of. God help us as parents to have courage enough to know our children well enough
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