For Sunday October 21—only 9 days left in our reading through the bible!
Proverbs 22 has one of the most famous proverbs of all. Verse six says, “Train up a child in the right way and when they are old, they will not stray.” Another translation says “Train up a child in the wayhe should go.” The implication is that a child is to be trained up according to that child’s God given way to go. Certain child training principles apply to all children–respect your elders, for instance. But other training is unique to each child depending on their temperament and personality and abilities or disabilities.
To train up a child in the way “they should go” means that a parent or guardian will need to prayerful discern where God is leading the child and what is the right way for that child to go. This is harder work than just making decisions about what to allow a child to do or not to do. It requires careful observation and prayerful engagment to know the heart of a child and to discern what God has in mind for that child.
The other truth of this proverb is often misunderstand. The proverb does not promise that a child will always go the right way. It promises that if we train up a child in the right way, when they are OLD they will not stray. A child who knows what is right can choose to do what is wrong. They can rebel and stray far from the right way. It takes patience and a deep and abiding trust in the Lord to wait and believe that they will return. And this is what the proverb promises. A child rightly trained will eventually return to the right way and then will not depart again. Sometimes the child goes away for a few months or a few years. Unfortunately, sometimes the child goes away for a significant chunk of their life. But, if they were trained in the right way, the promise is that they will return. This is great comfort to those parents with stray children. Sometimes the pain and suffering they experience is what brings them back and makes them even more committed to the right way! God works all things together for good! Teach children God’s way for them and eventually they will find it and live it!