Have you ever noticed how much children look like their parents? Have you ever seen a parent when looking in the eyes of a child? Have you ever seen a parent in the expressions on a child’s face? Have you ever seen a parent in the behavior and speech of a child? There is a reason for that.
As parents, we are (and must be) mindful of the awesome responsibility that is ours. God’s instructions are simple in words but nearly terrifying in action — “Train up a child in the way he should go” (Prov. 22:6). What an awesome responsibility! TRAIN UP A CHILD! Children are not born with an instruction manual, and even if the first child came with one, that second child would throw it out the window, necessitating a new and revised edition. Each child is unique in her own way. But God does not charge only to train up a child, but to train up a child IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO. Oh, what a responsibility!
The direction that an adult takes in life starts, believe it or not, even from the time that person was in diapers (in diapers as a child, not as an adult). When the adult stage of life dawns in a person’s life, the way he is going was charted by his parents years before that time, when the parents set the child in the way he should go. Another way of saying that is, “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth” (Psa. 127:4). Parents are the bow, determining the direction and release of the arrow.
Go back to those questions: Have you ever noticed how much children look like their parents? Now, think about that through a spiritual perspective rather than physical traits. Have you ever noticed that children carry their Bible to church services as often as their parents do? Have you ever noticed that children, once grown, attend and participate in worship with about the same frequency and fervency as their parents? Have you ever noticed that children, once grown, study the Bible and pray privately about as often as their parents did? Have you ever noticed that children have the same respect for God, the Bible, the church, the elders and authority in general as their parents? There is a reason for that.
Parents are given the responsibility to “train them up” (Prov. 22:6), “bring them up” (Eph. 6:4) and “teach them up” (Deut. 6:5-9). Why do children “turn up” just like their parents? Consider the words of Jesus: “Everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Think about this. More next week on this thought from our Lord.