One of the most misused scriptures in the Church today may be Proverbs 22:6; “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” This is often quoted by parents believing for adult children to return to the Christian faith of their youth. While it’s not my intention to undermine the tenacious faith of believing parents, the emphasis of this scripture is entirely different.
The original text in this verse literally says, “…while he is growing old, he will not depart from it.” Therefore, the promise is not for wayward children to return; rather it is a promise that if a child is trained and taught, he will not depart as he continuously grows!
It’s important to remember that like most promises in the Bible, this is conditional. In order to receive the promise, a commandment must be obeyed. This is a principal repeated over and over in the Word of God. Deuteronomy 28 is one of the most famous examples, promising that blessings will literally overtake those who obey the Lord (v. 1-14). The same thing is true of Proverbs 22:6. Training is the commandment that must be obeyed for the promise to manifest! Unfortunately many times in our culture, we claim the promises before obeying the instructions. Read the instructions first! It usually makes the process much easier.
Ultimately it is an individual’s choice whether or not he will fully commit his life to Jesus. Sometimes people will walk away no matter how good a job a parent has done. However, training and instructing a child in righteousness certainly improves the odds that a child will seek God all his life.
So how exactly do we train children not to depart from the faith and when do we begin? That’s coming in part two!
Posted on
Mon, October 26, 2009
by Andy Rudd