The Path Of A Child

The Path of a Child

10/30/18

It is the dream of the parent to ensure that their children all grow up to be more successful than they are but we are increasingly witnessing that this wish is not being fulfilled, or is it.  The paths that children take are usually a direct reflection of what their eyes and ears heard while following behind their parents’ footsteps.  It does not matter what path the parents took either, for it is what occurs in the everyday life of the family that is cast in the heart of a child.  I would love to state that the children of those parents who went to church every week would be the ones setting the stage for the future of this nation but I cannot honestly say that this setting is of a wholesome picture either.  We are reaping this product of our lives today and it is clear that we are nowhere near God or His Ways and that it is time we turn from the world and begin to train up our children to make a stand for God and not the world.

Being a pastor’s kid I had the opportunity to travel a bit around the country and see many different types of ethnic cultures during this time in my life.  When I was a young adult I had the opportunity to trade the minister’s son’s life for a life of the military personnel and when I signed up I had hoped that I would have the opportunity to go around the world, instead, I received Texas and Utah two very familiar family places.  Even with these stateside stations, I continued to have the convenience of witnessing further cultural habitats within my assignments.  Then after my military tenure was over I planted myself in a small community in western Colorado and have remained in this wonderful spot ever since, but even in this small community where a good majority of the population has been around here for generations it proves to be just as culturally diverse as all of my previous experiences combined.  A fascinating detail that when I think about it and I cannot help but shake my head at these wonderful people and wonder just how we all get along so well, that is up until now I should say.

As I span over my career here I cannot help but notice a few instances where cultural differences have come together and produced some pretty organized gatherings but on the other hand, I have also been witness to some of these cultural institutions clashing and producing an ugliness that is almost unmentionable.  I remember one of my employees a while back openly and proudly talking about how she spent her weekends and who she was with while those weekends unfolded.  The majority of the weekend was spent inside a bar drinking and carousing around with whoever she wished and would come and go with those people as she pleased.  I was never involved in this type of scene when I was younger and while it was not too hard to imagine living such a setting I still had to wonder why anyone would do such a thing.  I could not help but wonder where her parents were while this underaged teenager was allowed to peruse bar after bar with a seemingly limitless curfew and it is at this point where one simple question of mine set into motion in my head of a destructive pattern that today God will be using in order for us to understand the importance that we follow His Ways at ALL times and not haphazardly or at whims call.

As this young lady was explaining to her coworkers about a weekend that she had in the bar and just how terrible she felt that morning because of her weekend status, I could not help but become engrossed with the conversation.  Not to condemn her at all or to start any talk about how she was wrong and that she should spend her time off doing constructive items but just to listen to see how her mindset was and to wonder if she really enjoyed her activities.  At some point, I interjected and asked her where her mother was during this weekend bash at the bar and without any hesitation or embarrassment she answered quickly and said that her mother was right next to her at the barstool beside her.  It kind of stunned me for a second when she said this but what she said next stunned me even more for she stated that her mother would be right next to her at all times unless she went off with a guy, then it might not be until the next morning that they would meet up again.  Her words were not surprising to me about the things she did but what she said about her mother placed an entirely new light on how I understood the generations that were coming up and how they would perceive authority and governance within their own lives, a frightening sight that we are now seeing unfold before our eyes.

While my parents did not share too much information about the problems and issues of the church family, I could tell that not many after duty, evening or late night calls dad would receive were of any good nature.  Most of the time I could figure out that someone was sick or had passed away but occasionally my ears would hear that this common calling out was not the case.  I really was too young to understand most of what transpired but I knew that something was not right and that the call was not of a good nature.  As my years increased and my understanding of how the world infiltrates a person I figured out that some of these calls dad had to attend were of a domestic nature and I can only imagine some of the sights and sounds he had to endure while attending such messes.  When my medical field career began I quickly became indoctrinated with such sights and what I believed I knew as an older teenager was just the tip of the iceberg to what I was witness to in my early twenties and onward.  Also, as I stated before I wish that my eyes would have been witness to those instances in which I did not know the individuals involved in such ugliness, but I cannot for even church members presented themselves to the emergency department with injuries that could only be acquired from physical altercations.

How could this type of behavior be right I would ponder to myself?  I asked one of my coworkers this question because he was a state trooper for many years before he retired from that position.  He stated that he and his troops would dread Sundays that Denver would play because if they lost they all knew that they would receive at least one call of domestic abuse, and he said it never failed not to occur.  If this type of activity is triggered by a football game and its result how much more damage could be attributed to people when times are really bad and just what lengths would they take in order to gain what they would be “needing”?  This question and many more still run through my mind today because I see the same type of activity being displayed over social media and on news sites on a daily basis.  So my question still remains and rings true, what path are we training our children to walk and how will we handle things when we are questioned in the future about such activity from them?

Proverbs 22:6 addresses this issue and it provides a great deal of wisdom but in order for it to be applied the ones setting the example must understand the truth about life and what it means to train according to what is right.  The verse goes as such: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  I have heard this verse taught to many people in various settings and capacities and it is a wonderful verse of promise when it is referring to the person who trains their children in the Light of God and in the Truth that God’s Word gives but we must be honest with ourselves and know that this verse is not always referring to a sacred art of raising children and that it could also be in reference to a warning to those who do not care about the real truth and live according to the world.  The example I gave about my employee is a tone for such statement and example and we cannot afford to dismiss this aspect of the verse for it should serve as a testament to witness to such people and it also gives us a detailed access to how society is operating and what kind of status and influence the Church has on society as well.  We cannot forget that if someone brings into an account of things that do not line up with God’s Word completely, then it shall be a poison to the Word of God and thus cause someone to fall sick.

The Book of Proverbs is packed with verse after verse of wisdom that we should take into consideration every day of our lives, yet in many cases and times, we tend to see these wise acts after we have faced trials and tribulations.  The hindsight concept comes into play here on a routine basis bust as we kick ourselves for not getting things correct the first time around we must take into consideration of what we have portrayed to our children in the first place, for it is their eyes and ears that see how to act.  It would be a normal placement to see children of Christians be on good behavior and of upright standards as they grow up and after they grow up but to be honest some of the most hate-filled people walking on this earth are preacher’s kids or those who have been associated with the church all their lives.  At the same time, we see people who have no connection to the church portray similar attitudes and actions towards others, a most unlikely network that can be confusing to many and it is this reason why many people who have read this passage or those who truly love God have trouble with this verse.  And it this detail of how we are ourselves that God wants us to understand about Himself, His Word and our hearts for two of these three can never change no matter what we wish to conceive about them.  I have heard many a parent quote this verse in hopes that it would apply to their lives but cannot understand why their child has strayed so far away from God.  It is the choices of the heart that brings forth the path of the child and if our form is not completely directed by the Word of God Satan will use this door to subvert our children right in front of our eyes.

First off we must understand that this verse is NOT only referring to God and the ways that Christians raise their children.  In this verse, there is no mention of God or His Ways only the fact that when a person raises their child in such a specific manner that they will remember such a manner when they are older.  Now, all parents who are of sound mind and state do their best to raise their children in a good manner but the influence that they give their children makes the difference in how those children respond in the future.  It is true that if they are not continually influenced by God and His Word that they shall have no reason to live according to God’s Ways but this verse does not solely address God and His Ways for it also addresses the state of society as well.  It is this aspect of the verse that we need to understand and then do our best to correct before the world infiltrates our children and we fall behind on what David really meant when he wrote these words.  If we train our children to accept the world and its principles we should not be surprised when they come home acting like the world.  It is this point that we cannot scream or preach the Bible to them but to teach them what the Word of God says and show them how important it is to remember that the world only offers decay, destruction, and death to those who follow its lead.  When a parent or even society is under the wrong influence the children of these entities shall show what they have learned and it does not take too many generations later to witness a complete change in attitude and lifestyle.

Look at the many options that the world offers that are accepted as normal today, everything from same-sex marriages to multiple divorces to drug-induced births crosses our eyes every day which the world demands that we blindly accept as nothing new.  While this aspect of the world should not come as any surprise to us it is concerning because the Church is not making headlines in voicing their opposition to what is being labeled as normal and a “right” to everyone.  Instead, the Church is lining up with these lies that the world is teaching and promoting them from the pulpits and pews.  If the Church parents are accepting this worldly practice into their lives then how can we expect any true and godly opposition to the world to follow in our children?  It is not okay for these deadly values to be promoted and then followed for if we allow them to continue the complete authority that God gave parents in Genesis 2:22-24 will totally be replaced by the perverted version of Proverbs 22:6.

Proverbs 22:6 is a wonderful verse with a vast spiritual and eternal promise but if the Church does not stand up for her Creator and do what is correct in His sight.  The beauty in this verse is proclaimed when parents wholeheartedly teach their children the truth about right and wrong staring with what occurred in the Garden of Eden then explain to them exactly why it is important that we do things correctly at all times instead of experimenting with the world as the alternative.  It is this path of what the world considers to be “right and correct” that serves us with a devastatingly deadly dose of lies that makes us feel good at the present moment.  God is the only being that can understand what the consequences of our present can procure which is why He wants us to fully understand this verse in Proverbs.  It is not just a one-sided verse but represents the entire picture of what the possibilities are or could represent in our lives. 

It is for this reason that we need to take a closer look at our own hearts and allow God to see what really resides within them.  Even though we may call ourselves Christians and represent publicly as one who walks upright before God, how is it then that the Church is in such disarray with God when we are the ones who make up the Church?  Something is not right here for there cannot be any question that the Church is the sole representative of the message and mission that Jesus gave to do when He was on the earth.  It is evident that what the children are being taught and trained today is not what lines up with the Word of God.  We can easily expect that from our schools and public facilities but if contrary measures are not adequately taken at home where intimate relationships are built or should be built then our hopes of any decency in knowing when to stop these ridiculous activities that we are blindly participating in will not stop but continue to increase without bounds.

It is frightfully sad to see such wicked activity being displayed from a nation that was founded on God and the principle of freedom of worship.  But when you take into consideration what our children are being taught both in the public and at home it should come as no surprise when horrifying statistics cross our screens concerning our children.  The examples that this nation alone exhibits is flat disgusting and will not change but increase unless we turn our blackened hearts back to God.  Our actions stem from what comes from our hearts and it does not matter what state of mind one wishes to procure their identity either.  The choices are simple in that if we continue to push God out of our hearts our hearts shall continue to darken and will reflect such darkness in our present and future actions with our inherited past serving as the foundation of what is to come.  Or, we can choose God and allow His Ways to influence our hearts and provide the truth about what Proverbs 22:6 really means and if we turn our hearts back to God our society will be healed according to God’s promises.  When we completely turn our lives over to God and teach our children to do the same it will become more likely that this verse will be like most of us proclaim a verse that promotes God and His Ways.  Many parents’ hearts have been broken by the actions of their children godly parents are included in this statement as well.  That is why we must allow God to search our hearts on a continual basis so that He may weed out the world and replace it with His Ways so that we may give our children a fighting chance for their future.

DLB