Daily Devotional
Betty Miller shares her daily
devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.
The Wisdom
of God
Verses for the Day:
5 Thorns and
snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far
from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not
depart from it.
Proverbs 22:5-6 (AMP):
5 Thorns and snares are in
the way of the obstinate and willful; he who guards himself will be far from
them.
6 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.
Thoughts for the Day:
These verses in Proverbs
speak of the fate of the rebellious, as well as instructing parents to train
their children in the right way. Verse 5 clearly tells us that the
froward (rebellious) person will end up on a path that is hedged in with thorns
and snares. We all probably know people who stay in "hot water."
Many young people, to their own hurt, will not listen to the advice of their
parents and elders, and end up going down the wrong road. They just seem to take
their lessons in life the hard way -- doing their own thing. However,
there is a group of Christian youth, who truly love the Lord, and have respect
for authority and godly advice, and they are the ones described as "keeping" or
"guarding" their souls. Among those are young people who are chaste and have
kept their virginity. They will escape the ravages of sexually transmitted
diseases and scarred emotions, so that when they meet their mates, they can begin
a life together without pain and guilt. This is not true of the rebellious youth
who go down the path of sexual experimentation and then are wounded by the
thorns and snares that go with that lifestyle.
Verse 6
admonishes us, as parents, to help our children find the right path and stay on
it. We are told in this verse to "train" up our children in the Lord. Many
parents have grief in their hearts over their grown children who have gone
astray from their Christian heritage and teachings. They have wondered why their
children did not walk in what they were taught. One reason for this is
that many parents did not "train" their children, but only "taught" their
children about the things of God. Teaching is sharing information, while
training integrates that teaching into a lifestyle. As parents, we should also
pray and ask the Lord to help us direct our children in the calling He has for
them. We need to recognize the God given gifts they possess and encourage them
along those lines.
Training is a lot
more tedious and takes a committed effort on the part of parents. Training
involves enforcing and reinforcing what is being taught. Lack of teaching and
training our children in the standards and absolutes, as outlined in the Bible,
has been the reason so many of our children are misguided. Many of our children
are not receiving godly standards from their Christian parents, but are being
taught by humanistic teachers in the public schools (where prayer is no longer
allowed). If they do not receive their guidance there, they are getting it
from baby sitters, secular movies, videos, CDs, games, books, magazines and
last, but not least, their own peers. Parents have abdicated their roles as
mentors, while our children get their values from our immoral society.
We must get back
to training our children in the ways of the Lord. The Bible commands children to
obey their parents in all things, if they want to please the Lord. (Of course,
this means in all moral and right things. There are corrupt parents who would
ask their children to do evil things, and a child should not obey in those
things.) Parents are also told, to not provoke their children to anger, and
thereby discourage them. Parents are to be kind and good to their children, as
the Lord is kind and good to us, His spiritual children.
Colossians
3:20-21:
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the
Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be
discouraged.
If we call on the
Lord to help us, as parents, He will give us the wisdom, love and patience to
raise our children properly, even in a wicked world; and when they are grown,
they will not depart from the things that they learned from us.
Prayer for the Day:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for all You have done for my children and grandchildren. Lord, I am
grateful that they all know You. It was Your love and grace that made that
possible. Lord, I do pray that You keep each of them in Your Hand and keep
them from the evil influences in this world. Help me to continue to be
that mentor and model for all of them and most of all, help me to always show
love to each of them. Lord, lead each of them into the ministry that You
have ordained for them. May they find the right mate, so they can walk together
in their life's calling. Protect them all. I ask this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
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