Train Up a Child in The Way He Should Go
Proverbs 22:6 (New King James Version)
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
When my son, Zach, was in high school playing football he broke his pinky finger. The school called me to pick him up and take him to the doctor. When I got there his finger was broken at the second digit. It stuck out in an L shape away from his hand. It looked very “nasty”. But Zach said, “I don’t feel any pain and the Lord will heal this.”
I took him to the doctor and they straightened his finger. The doctor said because it was fractured at the joint it would probably never be the same again. Zach didn’t receive that word. Instead, he stood for his healing. Three weeks later we took him back to have the splint taken off and his finger examined. They were amazed at how well his finger had healed at the joint. Today you would never know he had broken his pinky finger.
Where did he have such confidence from the very beginning that God would heal him?
When you train up a child in the way he should go, in the time of crisis, he will not depart from it. It is so vitally important that we spend time training up our children in the Word.
Psalm 127:3-5 (New King James Version)
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but, shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Our children are like arrows. Arrows back in the day of King David had to be handcrafted, the shafts straight and feathers placed perfectly. Arrows were a work of art and their accuracy depended on careful crafting.
The Psalmist is telling us that it is very important for us to handcraft and give close attention to the training and upbringing of our children in the word of God. A generation of well-trained Christians from their youth is a force to be reckoned with. (they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate)
Philippians 2:15 (New King James Version)
That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
- Crooked arrows don’t shoot straight
- Crooked arrows don’t hunt well
- Crooked arrows don’t kill your enemy
- A crooked generation is untaught of the Lord
If they’re not God’s children they are considered a perverse generation. Not knowing God and his ways, untrained children will contribute to the destruction of their generation.
An arrow is not only finely crafted but must also be maintained. If you don’t maintain an arrow then it can become warped or crack under pressure.
But train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Like Zach, they will find comfort and power in the word that they’ve been taught, to stand in their hour of crisis and reach out to their generation as a shining light to the world.
Author: Pastor Andy Johnson
