159 - Training up a child
Wording of this Handout:
Training up a child.
I have come across Christian parents who have said to me "We trained up our children in Christian ways, so, even if they go off the rails, they will come back to God, because the Bible says "When they are old they will not depart from their training."
But when I ask about the way the children were brought up I hear things like "Well, we were too busy to do much teaching ourselves, so we sent them to pre-school, then primary school, then secondary school.... and they've gone away from the Lord....but when they are old they will come back."
The Bible says that children should be "trained up" (or fenced in) in godly ways, and parents who send their kids down the road are certainly not giving these kids the right training. Secular education is OK in some ways, but kids learn to read by reading everything but the Bible. All the subjects at Public school are secular ( no Bible teaching), and most teachers are not allowed to teach Christianity in Public Schools.
So how much training do these well-meaning Christian parents put in? Hardly any, usually. So do they have any grounds to claim God's promise?
BABYLON
Off you god kids - the Babylonians can have you for another day!
The Bible says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when his is old he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6 (New INternational Version )