With my career in learning and development, it is no wonder that I was struck this morning as I read and study the word “train”. I was led here this morning as I was seeking the next in my studies and recalled the message from our pastor on Sunday on this very topic. The message was on the one verse below and I was reminded of my role in the world with our boys that were entrusted to us.
“6Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
— Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)
I am in this world to bring glory to God and bring the gospel to it as well. This is where it all begins for me as a parent. Our pastor broke this verse down over the course of his message. He pointed out that the “train up a child” is to point them in the right direction. I am to aim them where they should be going. I have to careful and calculated and not just throw them out there and hope that they find what they should find. I have to be thoughtful and deliberate in aiming them where they should go.
And where should the go but to God. I have to remember that I am only a steward of these children and I am to aim them at and to God so that they know “the way he should go”. I have to be the example of where they should go. I have to be sure that they are placed in the environment that narrows the path and give very explicit direction for them.
In all of this, I also have to remember that as another of our pastors reminded me: “Proverbs are principles and not promises”. Training up a child in the way he should go, is only pointing them in the direction and then letting them go that direction. It does not mean that he will always find the target as there are a lot of variables that could derail the direction. The idea of the principles is to give the information for them to correct course when things go awry and get back to “the way he should go”. That is the second part of the verse above. Even when things are not as simple as they were when young, the principles and learning will give that direction to correct the course and get back on track.
One of the lasting things that stuck with me from our pastor’s message was this. If we do not train them up, someone else will. And that someone else may not be looking to aim them in the “right” direction, rather, they may point them in the direction of destruction. That way of destruction may not be visible at the time to the one being aimed, but it will manifest later and the struggle and disarray will ensue. The learner will be lost and have nothing to guide them back to the right path of “the way he should go”.
I am responsible for my boys to aim them in the right direction. I am the steward of their direction, but being the steward is not to get them there, but to provide the direction and the principles needed to keep them going in that direction. Even when they seem to be lead off track, they will be able to find their way back by leaning on what they learned.
What training are you providing? Are you allowing others to aim or point your children? What if you pointed/aimed/trained your children to God and allowed them to learn what was needed to keep them moving toward Him?
Trevor's Thoughts 