Lord’s Day, Vol. 2 No. 39

(1) Thoughts for Children’s Day

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 is the Lord’s commandment for parents and would-be parents to the sacred task of training a child. The reward is an enduring godliness in the child when he reaches adulthood. This sacred task of training the next generation is decidedly important and urgent yet we realise it is often neglected. This mandate also applies to those who may not be parents but are in constant contact with young lives whom the Lord has entrusted to their care.

(a) The Parental Mandate (6a)

– “Train up a child in the way he should go:”

The word “train up” has the idea of initiation, to start early, training him when he is still young, to form the habits, thoughts or behaviour in the child or person by discipline and instruction. This word “train up” is in the imperative. It is a sacred commandment from the Lord for a commitment by the present generation of adults in the training of future godly men and women of the next generation.

A young child like a young oak tree can be bent with very little effort whereas an old oak tree in its set form cannot be easily reshaped! A child of Adam after the fall has a natural tendency towards evil, whose will is in total bondage to sin. Therefore, sharing with a child the gospel is crucial. A young child could be led to know Christ – Jesus’ birth, teachings, death and resurrection – so that the child can accept Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour at the earliest possible age. This is done with much prayer and supplication for God’s grace and mercy on the child.

Giving priority of time and resources to the early years of a child’s life in inculcating godliness and the teaching of God’s Word to the child is the emphasis of this mandate. The working mother is all too common today where both husbands and wives work and children are often left in the care of child-care centres and maids and grandparents. High costs of living calls for dual income, they said. Work often means going for business trips days on end. The priority for the family is living better, dressing better, driving better, eating better.

Where do they find time in caring for the soul of their children when parents themselves are lost carving a name for themselves in the world? Whatever little time parents have with their children are often spend in driving the children to be successful according to the world’s standard to the neglect of their spiritual well-being.

The mandate for child training is a wake up call for all to take the child’s spiritual well-being seriously before time runs out.

(b) The Parental Mark of Honour

– “and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

If a child is properly disciplined and taught in the Word of God when he is young, he will be temperate and responsible. When he is old, he will not turn aside from the faith. The process starts from the time the child is born. Parents could pray for, read the Bible and sing hymns to their infant. Just as a child needs physical food to grow, the child needs spiritual food for his spiritual growth.

When a child is consistently taught to obey the Word of God from young, where the family prays together and God’s Word is highly esteemed in the home, then no storm can shake such a home built upon the Bible. It is a team work between husbands and wives, with the father taking the lead being the head of the home.

 John Newton, the man who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace”, was a slave trader. As a young boy, he ran away from home and eventually went to Africa to participate in slave trade. His reason for leaving, which he wrote in his autography, was so that he might “sin his fill”. And sin he did. One day, when he was still chained in sin and went to sea, transporting slaves from Africa to the new world, his ship was caught in a fierce storm in the North Atlantic and was sinking. Water was pouring into the ship. Frantically, while trying to pump out water from the ship, God caused him to remember Bible verses he had learned from his mother as a child, half a lifetime earlier. Those verses led to his repentance, faith and conversion right there in the ship while the storm was raging. Miraculously, the ship survived the storm. John Newton never forgot God’s mercy on him. He left the slave trade, and later became a minister of the gospel. Although he lost his mother at a young age, those early years of training in the Scripture were effectual. It led eventually to his salvation and the resolve in his heart to serve God with his life.

(c) Conclusion

The parental mandate – establishing godliness in the child and the parental mark of honour – enduring godliness in adulthood. May the Lord strengthen the hearts of every parent to fulfil this heavenly mandate. Amen.

Yours lovingly in Christ,

Pr. Lek Aik Wee