Train Them Up

[0:00] Go ahead and take your Bibles this morning and go over to Proverbs chapter 22.! Proverbs chapter 22, as we'll look into the Word of God here this morning. As I was looking at and speaking just a moment ago, a week that the kids are there at camp and focus upon the Word of God is really engaging them multiple ways.

[0:23] And they engage them physically, you know, and with the games and the activities and all the things going on. But, you know, another element is probably more important.

[0:33] The two things following are more important because it engages them mentally to the soul and to who they are. You know, understanding who they are as an individual and to understand the need and necessity that our soul has for God.

[0:49] And as they took the time to learn and to be understanding those things, how it touches the soul of an individual. You know, the preaching of the Word of God, that's what it's aimed towards.

[1:00] It's not aimed towards your physical body. It's aimed towards mental, who you are, your soul, the very core of who you are as an individual. But it also touches you spiritually.

[1:13] You know, because remember, the Bible makes it clear we're made up of a body and a soul and a spirit, and all of those interact one with another. And at camp, the kids get an opportunity to engage all of those things throughout the week.

[1:28] And so we saw a testimony of that and the dynamics that are incorporated with that make a difference. And these had an opportunity to decide a direction.

[1:41] You know, these kids had an opportunity to decide a direction in their life, something that impacted them from within that we want to see come out in their life.

[1:51] Because we make decisions spiritually and with our soul and with God in view. You know, oftentimes we operate the other way. We play with our soul and our physical body dominate.

[2:04] Instead of thinking the most important thing is my soul and my relationship with God. You know, our physical body is important, but I want you to understand it just houses who you are.

[2:16] It's going to pass away. And you know, this morning, I just want to take the time here this morning, the few minutes we have left, just to encourage you here with some things. And consider the impact that, you know, oftentimes we look at the impact that camp has.

[2:32] But I want you to consider the impact that you have as a parent. You have a great more and lasting impact. What happens at camp is a result of what happens day in and day out.

[2:46] Because we are not a summation of a one point in time. It's our entire life that impacts us. And as parents, what we do impacts the next generation.

[2:57] It lays a foundation and ability for them to continue and to do those things. And so I'm speaking to parents, but really not just to parents, because everybody impacts the life of somebody else.

[3:14] And so if you found Proverbs chapter 22 this morning, let's stand together. We'll read our verse here for this morning. And we'll get it right into the message here. Let's look together.

[3:24] If you found chapter 22, verse 6 says this, very familiar to most people. It says, Train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it.

[3:36] Heavenly Fathers, we just take a few moments here this morning as we look into your word. Lord, we pray that you'd just stir our hearts, Lord, to understand the importance of what this simple sentence has for us.

[3:51] Lord, the reality of how it plays out in a much bigger and broader picture in our lives and in the lives of others. Lord, help us to understand and to draw close to you even here today.

[4:04] Lord, understanding the responsibility that comes with it and the impact that it has. And Lord, we ask it all in your precious name. Amen.

[4:15] May you be seated. You know, as we see here in Proverbs 22, Proverbs 22 covers a lot of things. There's a lot of statements about cause and effect in Proverbs chapter 22.

[4:26] It talks about the cause and effect of a good name worth more than riches. It talks about a prudent man avoids evil. And when he sees it, he avoids it. It talks about humility and fear of the Lord and thorns and snares of how perverse people can snag us and how those things need to be avoided.

[4:45] And then he comes to verse 6 and he says very simply, he says, train up a child in the way he should go. You know, the truth here in this verse is something that we really need to stop and contemplate because, you know, oftentimes simple statements have complex function.

[5:02] In other words, they're easy to say, but we really never stop to consider what's involved to make that happen. Because what it's saying here is really pretty simple. It says train up a child.

[5:14] Sounds easy. Wouldn't tell you have a kid. But I want you to understand, even as a parent, how you're going to train your children starts before you ever have children. How you're going to train your children starts in your thinking before you are even married.

[5:29] It starts in your thinking because it also impacts what's been put in. Because what has been put in impacts what comes out. And we see here this morning of this consideration, what does it mean to train up a child?

[5:44] To train up your child. How can parents guide their children in a way that prepares them for life? You know, parents spend a lot of time preparing children.

[5:55] In today's world, parents invest a lot in their kids. There's without a doubt we are a generation that's probably more kid focused than any generation before us. Before, oftentimes, we were sustaining, trying to earn, trying to survive, trying to make sure they had food.

[6:11] But, you know, generally speaking, in America, we're a generation where people have the necessities provided. As a general, our society has much blessing.

[6:21] I mean, when you look at what other people have around the world, we are a blessed nation. But what it's done is given parents more time to spend with their children. The problem is, what are they spending?

[6:33] How are they spending it? And what is that investment doing? Because if we make an investment, we want to see a return on it. And oftentimes, I think parents are, like I said, they're spending a lot, investing a lot in their kids.

[6:48] But we need to be careful because we're not talking just about financial and time. Because the what you invest is the most critical part. The what is more important than even the time or the amount.

[7:03] Because if you invest a lot in the wrong things, you know what, you still end up with the wrong thing. If you invest wrongly, you still end up with a poor investment. You know, when we invest money, we talk about return on investment.

[7:17] You know, you want to see it grow. You want to see it multiply. You want to see a growth from what you invest. Training up a child is that. It's investing in our kids.

[7:29] When we train, there's a need to see the desired outcome. You know, there should be a direction and a purpose. Training is critical. And training is something we understand.

[7:41] You know, consider, you know, I got to think about this and looked at trees. You know, trees can be trained. Have you ever seen a tree that looks like this? Why do they stake it and put a strap on it like that?

[7:54] They're training the tree to make sure it grows straight. Because you know what happens? When that tree is held there, when its outside forces direct it, it's not there to restrain the tree.

[8:10] It's not there to keep the tree from growing. It's there to help the tree to maintain a base that's going to be beneficial. But, you know, what does it mean to train?

[8:20] Now, I want to look at the second one I found here. You know, training goes for everything from the simple to the complex. When you train your child, are you simply trying to do the basics?

[8:33] Are you trying to develop them into the person and desire the outcome of what does God want them to be? How are we investing in a generation?

[8:44] I know that's a pretty amazing picture, isn't it? I mean, that was one of the more simple ones. I mean, they had one where a guy actually made a chair out of a tree. And actually had it formed up like one of them wicker baskets.

[8:58] And it was like, whoa. But I had to pay to get a picture, and I'm cheap. So this is the one you guys get. But I want you to see here that this tree had a desired outcome.

[9:12] And that outcome will affect that tree for the rest of its life. Because you know what's amazing about when they train a tree? How they train it, once it's established, it stays that way.

[9:25] It impacts a tree for the rest of its life. I want you to understand when you train your children, it impacts them for the rest of their life. What you put in makes a difference.

[9:39] You know, this timeless truth found here in Proverbs 22 emphasizes the importance of starting them on the right path early in life and building toward a life that will ground them in truth, not just for today, but more importantly, truth for tomorrow.

[9:57] What are they going to do? How are they going to live? What are they going to do in their life? And we see here this morning that it says, train up a child in the way you should go. This word child here talks about everything from a newborn to an adolescent.

[10:11] That's the term that's used. It covers that whole broad spectrum of life. So in other words, this training isn't just at the beginning. This is a long-term investment that has far-reaching impacts.

[10:30] Because we're going to look quickly here at three things that I think we need to understand of what training requires. Because the first thing is training requires intentionality. You know, you never train anything without intention.

[10:43] You know, we looked at those two trees. Do you think they got that way by accident? You know, especially the second one. And we can look at that and say there was no way that was accident. The guy didn't get that tree that way overnight. I guarantee you that was years of continual training.

[11:00] Waiting for it to grow and to mature and to train again and to move it into those areas and position and have it grow back together.

[11:10] All those things and those elements in it was something. It was an intentional investment. There was an intentionality to it. And, you know, we talk about training up a child.

[11:23] What does it mean to train up? I mean, that's a good question. We know what a child is, but what's it talk about when it says train up? You know, oftentimes we think about that as, okay, they brush their teeth and they know how to get dressed.

[11:35] And they know how to speak to an adult. You know, how to be polite. You know, they know how to read. But I want you to understand that the term here is a very interesting term in the scripture.

[11:47] Because the term train up here is to dedicate with purpose. It's interesting. This same word, Hebrew word, is used by Solomon when he dedicated the temple.

[12:00] The word dedicate in 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 63, there in the middle of that verse, that all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. It's the same word that Proverbs uses when it says to train up.

[12:13] When we train, what the picture is here, there's a dedication of that individual to the Lord. To say my purpose is going to have direction. It's going to have intention.

[12:25] It's going to be, it requires necessity. You know, because there is a dedication involved in training a child, you know. What it's speaking about here is to narrow.

[12:36] Because when you dedicate something, you narrow what it's going to be used for. You narrow down what the intent is.

[12:46] Because some things are going to happen naturally. But I want you to understand, training a child is to say, this is what we're going to focus because this is critical. This is essential for what we do.

[12:58] And we understand the way that is mentioned here is speaking about the course of life. Notice in our verse there, it says, train up a child in the way he should go.

[13:09] I want you to understand, the word way here is the same word we use, it's translated other ways in the scripture called your conversation, your way of life. It's used that way in the Old Testament and the New Testament in the same context.

[13:23] The word conversation, when you read your Bible, I don't think there's an incident where it's talking about our talk. Your conversation is, what is your life saying?

[13:35] Because think about it, how, you know, we hear that, oh, you shouldn't judge people by appearance. It's like, how many don't judge people by appearance? It's natural to judge people by appearance in what you see. I'm not talking just their clothes.

[13:46] But you judge them by their actions and their interactions. Let me give you an example. If somebody's screaming and yelling at somebody, what's your idea of that person? I wonder if they're angry.

[13:58] That's a bitter person. You know, sometimes we see things in people's life and conversation, we say, that don't fit right, or it doesn't, you know, identify some characteristics about that person by what they do.

[14:10] That's your way of life, your conversation. It involves more than just appearance. It has to do with who you are and how you interact with others.

[14:22] You know, as a parent, we need to be careful about our interactions and the intentionality. You know, it's shown in our conversation. You know, Psalm 37, verse 14 says this, The wicked hath drawn out the sword and bent their bow, and cast down the poor and needy, and to slay as such be of an upright conversation.

[14:42] That word conversation is the same word that we find in our text called the way. It's a way of life. It's a way of interaction. It's a way that we engage. It's used the same way in the New Testament, Philippians chapter 1, in verse 27, where the apostle Paul says this, Let your conversation be as it what?

[15:02] Becometh what? Altogether now, becometh what? Gospel of Christ. He's given a direction for your life.

[15:14] Now, I want you to understand what he's talking about here is not everything is just one individual thing, but it has to do with the big picture. Your conversation is the big picture of who you are.

[15:29] It's not just one thing. It's all of you. You know, we find that this is used in 1 Peter 3.16, and he says, Having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you, of evildoers they may be ashamed, and falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

[15:49] What's it talking about? It's talking about the way somebody's living. That conversation. You know, I want you to understand, parents, this verse is talking about something important because it's talking about a path that you set your kids on.

[16:03] Every parent sets their kids on a path, whether they want to or not. You know, kids that get abandoned, their parents have set them on a path. Their parents that are extremely engaged have set their kids on a path.

[16:15] Every parent in between is sending their kid, their children on a path. That's going to affect them the rest of their life.

[16:26] We need to be intentional about what we're going to do. You know, Deuteronomy chapter 6 talks about this. If you notice there, at the end of verse 7, it says, it talks about when thou walkest by the way.

[16:38] That term way is the same one used in Proverbs. When you're speaking about Jesus, when you're training, it's not just in their conversation, it's in yours.

[16:49] Kids are watching. Now, I said this message is for parents, but it's also for those that aren't parents because you know what? Your kids are influenced by more than you. We all have a responsibility to understand what are we investing, what are we putting in the life of another.

[17:04] You know, parents, we need to be intentional in what we teach and train up what we put into our children. You know, we send our kids to school. When you send your kids to school or you homeschool or whatever method that you might choose to use, nobody goes into it and says, we're just spending hours.

[17:25] I want to put the hours in. The hours aren't what is important. It's what's being, those hours are being spent on that becomes important because it's an intention there, isn't it?

[17:37] Nobody goes, well, my kids sat and sat there and did school for five hours and doesn't know nothing. What would you call that? You call that a failure because you're investing and you want them to do what you want them to learn. You want them to grab a hold of something.

[17:49] You want them to, you want a desired outcome. And during that, you directed it. It was intentional. It was not just, okay, let's talk about this and that and this over here.

[18:00] When you do, when you're training somebody, what do you do? You focus upon an area. To focus upon it, you know, and the priorities that we exercise in our life are important, even as parents.

[18:15] You know, Moses, his parents in Exodus chapter two, I mean, took steps to guide him in the way that would shape his future. The investment that Moses' parents made at the beginning of his life shaped Moses' life.

[18:30] The rest of the years of his life were all shaped by what he learned early. The Bible tells us very clearly that element, but it not only requires intentionality, but it requires consistency.

[18:42] Consistency, you know, consistency, and let me put something else, inconsistency teaches also. Most people don't consider that inconsistency teaches somebody something too.

[18:53] Because your kids are watching. Kids watch what's important. What's being invested in. What's being focused on. Notice our text, In the way he should go, that when he is old, he will not depart.

[19:08] There's a consistency not only in your life, but also in the life of those that you're training. You want to see a consistency that's passed on. You know, let's look back quick at Deuteronomy chapter six and verse seven.

[19:21] Notice what it tells us here. It says, In these words shall I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. Now notice where it starts. It starts in you. As a parent, it's your responsibility.

[19:33] And it's also an individual responsibility for your relationship with God. You can have all the information, but if you do nothing with it, it serves no good. But look what it says, And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

[19:54] Now think about it. What's that verse talking about? It covers a lot of Terry, but it's talking about what? Consistency. Being consistent. Whether it's in the morning, or the evening, or whether it's conducting business during the day, or whatever interaction you might have with people, how you treat somebody who makes you mad.

[20:14] You know, we all know how that happens. You know, you go someplace, you even get bad service, and you start complaining about the waiter, or the waitress. When was the last time you're thinking, that's training my kids, or training others, by how I interact?

[20:30] Those things are important. How do you deal with people at the store? How do you deal with coworkers? How do you deal with your spouse? You know, we've talked about those important elements, and the impact that it has, and we understand that their consistent faith, it needs to be nurtured.

[20:48] You know, 2 Timothy 1.5 tells us this, When I call to remembrance, the unfamed faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and then persuaded that is in thee also.

[20:59] When Paul's writing to Timothy, he says there's an influence, there was a consistency that happened. And it impacted him in his life.

[21:10] There was a consistent faith. You know, that consistency reinforces those things. It's a long-term path and way that children are going to take.

[21:23] You know, Psalm 78 tells us this, and it says this, In which ye have heard and known, and our fathers have told us, we will not hide them from our children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done.

[21:40] It goes on in verse 6 and says this very clearly. He says, That the generation to come, what? Might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare it to their children.

[21:53] Consistency has an impact. Because consistency is summed up in the next thing, faithfulness. Faithfulness is important. The last part of this verse, let's look back at our text.

[22:05] It says this. He says, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Now, I want you to understand, the last part of this verse, some people have claimed this, okay, if I just do these things, there's a guarantee.

[22:19] I want you to understand, this verse is not a promise. This verse is not a guarantee, because you know what? God already understands, you can give somebody everything they need to live godly, but the choice still rests upon what they do with it.

[22:37] Because every child, every individual in here was born a sinner. It's our nature. We're not separated from God because we sin.

[22:47] We sin and are separated from God because we're a sinner by nature. You never have to teach a child to sin. Like I tell them, if anybody that has that philosophy, I tell them, just go work in the nursery for a few days.

[23:00] I've yet to see, have to teach it, go take that toy from him. You know, you never hear that in the nursery. It's like, the kid will go, mine, mine. It's ingrained. You have to train and instill the right things.

[23:14] And that takes, investing in the faithfulness that is there. It requires faithfulness in you. Because you know what? Oftentimes I see a problem.

[23:24] Sometimes we get started out with good intentions. And this even involves with the kids here that come back from camp and even others, you know, as we're engaging those things, we make a decision for God.

[23:34] And we say, we want to be consistent. We want to be intentional. But you know what? Ultimately, God boils it down. Are you going to be faithful? Because faithful moves it from a short term to a long term.

[23:47] Faithfulness isn't measured from today to tomorrow. Faithfulness is measured from today on out. Faithfulness has a different measuring stick.

[24:01] It's not just a week or a month or a year. When you look at faithfulness in the scripture, it talks about a lifetime. It talks about who you are. They will not depart from it. The word depart means something very interesting here.

[24:14] I think it's important. It means to turn off. Now, I want you to understand that if you instill in your children godly things, they might choose to ignore them.

[24:25] The promise here in the scripture says, God says they cannot turn them off. Well, how does that apply? It means they're still rattling around up here. They have an understanding of things that's been ingrained within them.

[24:37] Have you ever noticed that sometimes people who grew up in church get really bitter and angry? You know why they stay bitter and angry? Because they can't turn off what's been put in. If they're angry at God, they're angry at everything about God.

[24:50] That's a different message of dealing with that. Because we need to understand, your parents aren't perfect. And what you do with the Lord is important. Matter of fact, it's critical. What your parents did after you mature is secondary to the decisions you make.

[25:05] Because you move up to a point where you're no longer being trained up, but how are you applying those things? And even if you didn't grow up with them, you can put in them, those elements into your life.

[25:18] It's not something that just happens at childbirth. Old things can be renewed. Do you know what happens? The Bible says that when you get saved, you become a new creature in Christ. You could have the worst, most wicked upbringing and come to Christ and your life is different.

[25:32] And Christ talks about the renewing of your mind. Why is your mind need renewed? Because you need to get out the things that have been put in because the problem is, is bad things stick with us as much as the good things.

[25:47] And Christ tells us that we need to replace those things with the right things. That's one thing he talked about this week at camp. I thought it really hits home to the reality because sometimes we want to put things away.

[25:59] The problem is you can't put something away and not put something else in. Throughout the scripture, you'll find two phrases, put off and put on. And whenever you find those two, they're intertwined.

[26:12] God never tells you to get rid of something. He doesn't tell you to replace it with something. Because let me tell you something about the physical world and even you as a person. A void creates a vacuum that something gets sucked into.

[26:24] If you get rid of something in your life, you better make sure you have the right thing to put back in because something will fill it. I want you to understand these are important dynamics and to understand here this idea they can't turn it off.

[26:38] You're building a foundation in their life that can never be removed. It can never, it might be ignored, but it's always a part of them. That's the reason it's so important of what are you putting in?

[26:49] Because sometimes dealing with the after effect is devastating. And as a parent and even others, I want to encourage you to understand the importance of saying, I want a faithful, solid foundation for my kids.

[27:02] But I do want to encourage you to understand no place in this passage tells us that you are responsible for your child's salvation. You're responsible to give them the truth. You're responsible to live the truth.

[27:16] You're responsible to do your part. And I say that to keep in mind because every person has to make a personal choice when it comes to Christ. You can give them all the advantages.

[27:28] And if you grow up in a Christian home under sound Bible preaching and you have a consistent family life at home, you know what? You have a great advantage because you've been given all the things you need to understand who you are, who Christ is, and what he's done for you.

[27:46] I tell you what, that's a big advantage. Talk to somebody who's come to Christ after their life has been in shambles. Drug and alcohol, and all these other things. You know what? I guarantee you, if they get saved, they're going to look back and say, I wish I would have done this a lot sooner.

[28:01] I wish I would have understood this a lot sooner. Because it does, it changes your life. To understand the importance here. And so, as we look here today, what foundation are you building in your life, in the life of your kids?

[28:16] How are you preparing them for a lifetime of faithfulness? You know, just like the trees we saw earlier, godly training shapes children, not just for today, but for eternity.

[28:30] It's important because you need to be intentional, you need to be consistent, and then you need to be faithful. Faithfulness moves after they come out of the house.

[28:41] It should be there the whole time, but you know what? As a parent, your kids are still looking at you. They're looking at you later to see what, did their mom and dad really mean that, or were they just doing that to fill time? God calls parents and others to train up children in this way, because I want you to understand, your kids are going to go one of two directions.

[29:00] Proverbs 14, 12 says this, it says, there's a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 12, 28 says this, it says, in the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

[29:14] What we're talking about today starts with you as an individual of what you've done with Christ. Have you trusted Him? Which path are you choosing? The path of sin, the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but through Christ there's life.

[29:31] Which path are you taking? Which path are you instilling in the generation to come? You know, the way of righteousness is only found in Jesus Christ, and I encourage you, if you don't know Christ, that today would be the day that you'd settle that.

[29:46] there's no better day than today, but maybe you're here today and there's other things saying, I need to be faithful in other areas of my life, that I might be intentional and consistent, and that I might show faithfulness to the generation to come.

[30:07] If you need to speak to the Lord today, I encourage you so. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we come before you this morning, Lord, we just thank you and praise you for the day, for the opportunity that we have to meet together here today. Lord, as we've looked into your word, Lord, I pray that you just continue to help us be intentional and consistent and faithful in what we do because the way of our life impacts the way of those around us.

[30:34] Lord, I pray that you just stir our hearts and minds towards you today. Might draw close and Lord, that we might not just go away the same way we came in, but Lord, that we might be changed, not by just the words that were said, but by the truth of your word.

[30:48] And Lord, we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. As heads are bowed and eyes are closed this morning, what about you today? You know, it's always good to have an opportunity to respond to the truth of God's word.