Train Up A Child Part 2
When is the right time to begin training children? Five years old? Ten years? Sixteen? Do we wait until our kids are teenagers before we expect them to start pursuing the things of God? As always, scripture should be our guide! Isaiah 28:9 says, “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from milk, and drawn from the breast.”
Just how old is that? Weaning varies from child to child and culture to culture, but a good average might be about one year old. Therefore, from the time a child is about one year old, he should be exposed to and taught about “knowledge” and “doctrine.” Knowledge refers to life in general, whereas doctrine has to do with the things of God.
Obviously, training must first and foremost begin in the home with parents. However, many well-meaning Christian parents believe children should be exposed to both good and evil in public school systems. While this sounds good in theory, it’s actually Humanism and contradicts what scripture teaches. Romans 16:19 states “…I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” God’s Word instructs us not to expose children to what is evil, but rather train them in the way they should go. Sadly, this is not the philosophy of secular educators.
The idea of exposing children to good and evil, truth and error, right and wrong, so that they can make their own decisions, is not a new tactic of Satan. It’s the same false philosophy he originated in the Garden of Eden when he told Adam and Eve “…God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 2:5). God never wanted Adam and Eve to experience evil; He wanted them to eat of the tree of life (Genesis 2: 9, 17)! In the same manner, children don’t have to be exposed to evil to live successful lives. Believing that is the bitter fruit of Humanism.