“Train a child in the ways he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
~ Proverbs 22:6
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you think that your dad and ma are growing you up as kids the right way? What do you think that it means to grow up as kids the right way? Do you think that your dad and ma are completely dedicated to grow you up as kids the right way? Do you think that your dad and ma are instructing or teaching you to grow up as kids the right way? How do your dad and/or ma discipline and train you as kids to grow up the right way? How are your dad and/or ma giving you wisdom to grow up as kids the right way? What kind of kid do you think that Solomon was? Solomon’s dad – David, was called a man of God. Do you think that David grew up Solomon as a kid the right way? Do you know what kind of guy that Solomon was like when he got old? Even though God had Solomon become possibly the wisest guy who would ever live on planet Earth, when Solomon got older, Solomon was putting other things – such as wealth and gals, before being completely dedicated to doing things and living life God’s way. How do you think a dad and ma should grow up their kids? Do you think that a dad and ma should be always telling their kids that they are who need to figure out how to grow up the right way? Do you think that a dad and ma should be always teaching or instructing their kids how to grow up the right way? Do you think that a dad and ma should be always punishing their kids as a way to train their kids to grow up the right way? How are your dad and ma growing you up the right way? Your grandpaa sometimes thinks that what Solomon is sometimes trying to say through the proverbs that he wrote and chronicled in the Proverbs Book, that he feels like his dad David did not grow him up the right way. Solomon’s Proverb’s Book is filled with instructions for kids. Solomon’s Proverb’s Book is also filled with instructions for dads and mas on how to grow up their kids. There is a really good nugget in Proverbs 22 for dads and mas on why it is so important to grow up their kids the right way. Verse 6 says, “Train a child in the ways he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
What do you think is the best way for a dad and ma to grow you up their kids? What do you think is the best way for a dad and ma to train and teach their kids? How would you really like your dad and ma to train and teach you? Do you want to have your dad and ma yelling at you all the time trying to get you to learn and do things or do you want to have your dad and ma showing you how to grow up through how they are living their lives? Your grandpaa’s dad and ma showed through their lives how your grandpaa should live his life. Your grandpaa’s dad always prayed before and after every meal. After your grandpaa’s dad prayed before a meal, your grandpaa and his bros and sisters were taught by their dad and ma to say a short prayer which went ‘bless this food for Jesus’ sake. Amen.’ After your grandpaa’s dad prayed after a meal, your grandpaa and his bros and sisters were taught by their dad and ma to say a short prayer which went ‘thank you for this food for Jesus’ sake. Amen.’ When your grandpaa was growing up as a kid, your grandpaa’s family would always eat dinner and supper together. Your grandpaa could not leave the table until after his dad had prayed – thanking God for the food that they had just eaten. After every dinner and supper, your grandpaa’s ma would read a chapter or some verses from the Bible or she would read from a devotional book. Before climbing into bed each night, your grandpaa and his bros and sisters were taught by their ma to get on their knees by the side of their beds and to pray a prayer. The prayer that your grandpaa and his bros and sisters learned to pray went, ‘now I lay me down to sleep. I pray thee Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray thee Lord my soul to take.’ Your grandpaa and his bros and sisters were also taught by their ma to pray, ‘bless this person – or bless that person – or . . .’ when your grandpaa was growing up as a kid, your grandpaa saw his dad and ma daily praying to God and daily reading the Bible.
Another way that your grandpaa’s dad and ma taught and trained your grandpaa and his bros and sisters was by going to church twice every Sunday – taking your grandpaa and his bros and sisters with them, by having your grandpaa and his bros and sisters attend a Sunday School class on Sunday mornings, by having your grandpaa and his bros and sisters – when they got older, go to to a weekly Catechism class and by having your grandpaa and his bros and sisters go to a Christian School – which your grandpaa’s dad and ma were behind helping to see to it that it was built. Your grandpaa’s dad and ma approved of their kids going to a Bible College after their kids graduated from high school. Your grandpaa’s dad and ma were very supportive of your grandmaa and grandpaa – when your grandmaa and grandpaa were led by God to begin attending the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church that is in Aberdeen, South Dakota and when your grandmaa and grandpaa were led by God to be baptized by immersion. The dad and ma of both your grandmaa and grandpaa baptized their kids when their kids were babies. Your grandpaa knows that both his dad and ma are very happy that God called your grandmaa and grandpaa to be missionaries. Your grandpaa knows that his dad and ma are always praying for your grandmaa and grandpaa. Your grandpaa believes that it is a lot more difficult to be a dad and a ma today. Families are no longer eating meals together. Reading the Bible and praying together as a family during mealtimes is being practiced less and less. Attending church services together as a family is not nearly as important as it once was. Your grandpaa believes that the best teacher and trainer of a kid is always what a dad and ma do when they pray and read the Bible in front of their kid.
Proverbs 22 (273)