by Julie Bruce
How many parents have wept and prayed in agony over a child that has rebelled, gone their own way, and seemed to turn away from all they were taught? Many see this verse as a promise that children will keep to the faith they’ve been taught. Yet we know that every person has free will and must decide for themselves if they will follow Christ’s invitation to salvation. In fact, Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son who left home, did his own thing. The good news in that story is six words found in Luke 15:17: “But when he came to himself.” When he came to himself, he went back home.
In our verse for today, training our children should begin with teaching them the truth’s of God’s Word. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Teaching them God’s Word will also equip them to do good work (2 Timothy 3:17), give them what they need to tell others about Jesus (1 Peter 3:15), and build a foundation for them to stand on when the onslaught of worldly values claw at them and try to pull them into the snare of Satan’s lies. Training a child is serious business! Perhaps this is why Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:7-9, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Start while your children are young. Teach them about Jesus’ love for them. Let them hear you read the Bible to them. Teach them to pray. Teach them songs about Jesus. What you teach them will stay with them and if they should go their own way, then pray that God would bring them back and the teachings they heard when they were young would overpower the bonds of Satan who would lure them away.
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