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Yes — it’s S A T U R D A Y!!  You can catch your breath hopefully. I thought for today we would focus on the verse from yesterday I suggested you meditate on for Friday. Here it is — Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it?” (ESV). Now to many modern day Christian parents, they read this verse and interpret it to mean: get and keep your kids in Children’s church and a youth group. Make sure your younger children attend VBS and your youth go to summer Christian youth camps. Make sure they memorize a few of the main Bible verses and if you can afford it, enroll them in a private Christian school. And there may come a brief time where your child may rebel and sow their wild oats, but in the end, they will come back to their Christian faith.

Is that encouraging to you as a parent? It isn’t to me. I have known many kids who were in church and private Christian schools that rebelled, and never returned to their faith. So, let’s break this verse down. 

First, the Hebrew word translated as “train up” is [חֲנֹ֣ךְ, chanokh] and it is a word that refers to “the palate, the roof of the mouth, the gums.” How odd is this? Well, let me tell you why. The verb form of this Hebrew word was used to refer to bringing into submission a wild horse through a rope or bit in its mouth. 

In a Hebraic culture, when this term was used with a baby, it was used in reference to a baby about to be born. When it came time for this, a Hebrew midwife was called to assist in the delivery. When the baby was born, the midwife would deep her finger in some kind of juice (i.e., usually the juice from crushed dates) and put it in the baby’s mouth. She would massage the baby’s gums and palate. Why? For two reasons:

  1. This stimulated the baby’s desire to suck or a sense of taste.
  2. They believed the juice served to cleanse the baby’s mouth. The midwife would then place the baby in the arms of the mother to nurse the baby. So, this word was used to express “to develop a thirst.”

If you look this verse up in a commentary, it will say the word means “dedicate, consecrate.” Over time it came to mean this as well. Second, when you read the word “child” in Proverbs 22:6, what picture or image comes to your mind? Many think of a child that is 4-5 years old. The Hebrew word translated as “child” is [נַּעַר, naar]. This term is broad in its scope. It can refer to an infant, a weaned child, a preschooler, a teenage boy, and an unmarried adult male. The point is as long as that child is living under your roof, you, the parent, are to be training that child. 

Third, it was mostly used to refer to adolescence. How do I know that? It is seen in the word translated as “old.” This Hebrew word is [זקן, yazqin[ and it means “chin, beard.” This Hebrew word refers to “when hair grows on the face.” When does that start for boys? — Adolescence or puberty. 

Fourth, Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go . . .” This is a Hebraic way of saying “in keeping with, in cooperation with, in accordance to.” The New American Standard Bible gives us the literal words — “the way he should go.” Notice the pronoun used here — “he.” It doesn’t say “your” — meaning the parents' way. The Bible says as a parent raises their children, they are to notice the likes, skills, talents, and preferences and nature of those children. The Hebrew word translated as “way” is [דָּרַךְ, darko]. It carries the thought of characteristic, manner or mode. Chuck Swindoll gives us an illustration of this:

“We see this in Proverbs 30:18-19, There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
 Four which I do not understand: (19) The way of an eagle in the sky, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea, And the way of a man with a maid” NASB). In each case it is not a specific or well-defined, narrow road or path. It is the characteristic. The one who wrote this verse is saying `As I observed these four things, I find myself intrigued. I can’t put it all together. There is a beautiful coordination, an intriguing mystery which keeps me and captures my attention.’ Way is used in the same sense in Proverbs 22:6 — `train up a child in keeping with his characteristics.’ Let’s dig a little deeper. Both Psalm 7:12 and 11:2 use the same word, “way,” to describe an archer with his bow and arrows .Psalm 11:2 describes the wicked bending the bow before they let the arrow fly to the target. “Bent” or “bending,” the bow is the same word in verb form translated as “way” in the Amplified Bible. It catches the meaning correctly: `Train up a child in the way he should go (and in keeping with his individual gift or bent)’, and when he is old he will not depart from it’” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, You And Your Child, p. 8).

If you are a Christian parent, the worst thing you can do is feel or say, “Well, I am going to get these kids in line. They are going to march to the same drum beat. They are going to fit the mold I say they are going to fit. That is not what God says we are to do as parents. We are to observe their God-given characteristics, traits, likes, talents, skills etc and then encourage them in that direction. Dr. Henry Brandt, was a well-known children’s Christian psychologist, as well as an educator, consultant, counselor and author, he once said this:

“A parent is a partner with God in making disciples of their children” (Source: Dr. Henry Brandt, Build A Happy Home With Discipline, p. 2).

Questions To Consider

  1. Why do you think many Christian parents feel it is the church’s responsibility to disciple their children?
  2. If you are a parent, what to you is the greatest challenge in raising children and why?
  3. What are the benefits of encouraging your children towards their natural “bents” rather than forcing them into a mold you feel best fits them?
  4. Read Dr. Henry Brandt’s quote above again. A parent’s main job is not clothing, feeding, providing a house nor safety for their children. It is creating a thirst in your children for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. How is this different from the world’s view of parenting and why?
  5. A parent is a mentor of discipleship for their children. They are to model and teach their own children through their own personal discipleship with Jesus Christ. This is God’s design and purpose. What are the challenges to a Christian parent in doing this and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, help me to mentor and disciple my children, my grandchildren and any children You give me influence over today. Help me to create a thirst in children for You, the Living Water. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly



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