September 6 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Proverbs 22:1-16

¹A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
²The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
³A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
⁴By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.
⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
⁶Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
⁷The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
⁸He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
⁹He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
¹⁰Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
¹¹He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
¹²The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.
¹³The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
¹⁴The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
¹⁵Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
¹⁶He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

Devotional:

Verse 6 is a comforting promise to parents. In periods of a child's growing up, with the rebellion that sometimes accompanies it, this verse has been quoted with a heart full of trust in the Lord and with a faith that He will answer prayers for the salvation of covenant children.

Sometimes it has been quoted too glibly by parents who have not, in fact, been as faithful as the verse would require in training their children. Who among us has been completely faithful? We must be on guard against quoting this verse presumptuously.

Let us look at the verse more carefully. The word translated train up means in the Hebrew initiate or dedicate. The Hebrew word for catechise is drawn from this word, too. The child is to be initiated into the things of the Lord, dedicated as a temple of the Holy Spirit, catechised in the truth. The phrase in his way has the meaning of in the mouth of his way in the Hebrew, or at the beginning of his way.

The Proverb is saying that we should at the earliest possible time introduce the child to God's truth, carefully teaching him God's Word. If we do this he will not depart from the way of the Lord as he grows into adult years. There may be a period of time before he accepts these truths for himself. But the time of blessing will come.

This verse is a proverb, a statement of the way things generally are. We might say, The apple does not fall far from the tree'; or 'Like father, like son.' These are proverbs, too, and say something very similar. We recognize that they do not always apply. They picture the normal course or sequence of events.

The mistake comes when this verse is used as a blanket promise by God that without fail every child trained in the faith will become a Christian. This is contrary to other portions of Scripture. Our covenant God is sovereign in salvation and He normally works in families, rewarding believing parents with believing children. Scripture does not teach that every child of the covenant will confess Him. There are those who, despite the influences and training of a godly home, have consistently and permanently refused to bow the knee to the God of their fathers.

This verse is a comfort. But most of all it is a spur to the parent to train his child in God's way, heeding the directions of verse 15: 'Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.'