Free the Children to Live by Wisdsom

I have a thing for charts and graphs and I want to show you a doozy. You cannot buy it in stores; it is not “as seen on TV.” This amazing chart is available for FREE, and if you are the parent of children between the ages of 1-18, it could forever change your life! Where can you get your chart? Only HERE at light-work! (At least until it goes viral – don’t I wish! Even then, this will remain the sole source of light-work authorized copies of this stupendous guide for parents!)

Before I give you your chart, I need you to read a few posts that will prepare you. You don’t just throw down an amazing life-changing chart like this without preparing people - they might explode! So, first, we need to crack the code of Proverbs 22:6. (See below.) Then (in the next post), we will see how Proverbs 22:6 relates to an amazing teenager. Only after you read these two articles will you be prepared to begin the great unveiling of “An Amazing and Colorful Chart That Affects Everything Parents Do!” I am so excited, I just might pop. Let’s pray this doesn’t happen before you get your chart.

Some folks like to quote Proverbs 22:6. They take comfort from what they perceive as an ironclad promise that wayward kids who were “brought up better than this” won’t stray for long. Is that really what this verse teaches?

Here’s how the verse is translated by the NASB: “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). There are no Hebrew terms in the original for “he should go” so a minimalist translation of the first half would leave these words out. The verse has two parts, a “command” and a “result:” Command – “Train up your child according to his way.” Result – “Then he will not depart from that way.”

Let’s unpack a few key terms. “Train up” is an imperative, a command, that is most pertinent to parents. This verb and the related noun are somewhat rare and elsewhere used of physical structures that are “dedicated” in some way (Numbers 7:10; 1 Kings 8:63; Nehemiah 12:27; Daniel 3:2). Applied to child training, the verb denotes nurturing a child to a point where he becomes personally devoted to a certain course of life.

Because of the use of this word elsewhere for the ceremonial dedication of physical structures (an altar, temple, wall, or statue), we could easily assume that the verb, “train up,” is pertinent to a ceremony like an infant dedication. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get dressed up, gather some friends, and use a ceremony to dedicate your children to the Lord. Then just sit back and watch them turn out right. No muss, no fuss, just perfect kids. Dream on!

“Training up a child” involves far more than a one-time event. The word translated “child” is pertinent to an extended age band: It can be used of an infant (Exodus 2:6) but also describes a seventeen year old “young adult” (Genesis 37:2). This indicates that the target audience for the parental challenge of Proverbs 22:6 includes all those between infancy through the teen years. Parents have a responsibility to train up their children from the time they are born until they become adults.

“Way” is not specifically identified as the way of wisdom and the word can be used of diametrically different approaches to life: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish” (Psalm 1:6). But the notion of training a child in any way other than the way of wisdom is foreign to Proverbs. Indeed, the way of moral insolence is the default direction of every native heart (Proverbs 22:15). No training required. Walking in the way of wisdom, however, is a learned art requiring intensive training in how to oppose the natural bent of the heart away from God. This is THE way and Proverbs can use this simple shorthand expression, “the way,” to refer to the pursuit of wisdom. Here is an example. Notice how “the way” is the counterpart to wisdom in the two parallel lines of this verse: “Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way” (Proverbs 23:19). Wisdom equals the way. This is the “way” that every parent has every reason to internalize in his or her children.

Let’s use the meanings for these terms to develop an expanded summary for this verse: If parents will pour their energies into raising children who are devoted to the path of wisdom, these children will enjoy great advantages toward remaining steadfast later in life.

This verse (and others like Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13–14; 29:17) affirm the existence of a window of opportunity. While this window is open, parents are able to set their kids up for life. Parents can school their children to own the pursuit of wisdom for themselves, to become dedicated to walking in the way of wisdom as a matter of personal conviction.

On balance, this is a proverb and not a promise. That is, it describes a general principle. It is possible for a child to be trained to a point of devotion to the way of wisdom and yet to depart from that path later in life. But this is an exception and not the norm. The phrase “he will not depart from it” in Proverbs 22:6 is describing the customary or normative outcome, albeit not an ironclad future certainty.

It is also possible for a child to form a dedication to the way of wisdom despite having received none of the parental advantages summarized in Proverbs 22:6. Such a child is a testament to God’s grace and my wife is one of them. Praise God for the fact that the shortcomings of parents did not diminish God’s ability to work in her heart. In God, there is hope for every child, even those whose parents have no intention or interest in teaching their children the ways of wisdom.

These exceptions to the rule notwithstanding, the proverb is clear: If, as a parent, you will pour your energies into raising children who are “sold out” to God’s way, you give them maximum opportunity to stay on that path later in life. This is precisely the point Paul made to Timothy: “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14–15). Paul is explaining to Timothy that he has been given an advantage for steadfastness, the benefit of both a godly mother and grandmother who trained him to a point of understanding and embracing “the sacred writings” at an early age.

Here is the bottom line application from Proverbs 22:6: Don’t squander your opportunity to give your children an advantage in their later years. Impart to them a personal devotion to God’s way before they become adults.

You might be asking, “How? How do I do this?” Patience, grasshopper. The chart is coming and it will answer all your questions. First we need to learn about a young man named “Dan.”