Saturday, February 02, 2008

Proverbs 22:6

My bible study group has just started Chuck Swindoll's Parenting: From Surviving to Thriving. In the first chapter, he dissects Proverbs 22:6 (Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.) He comes up with the following contemporary paraphrase:

Cultivate a thirst, initiate a hunger, create an appetite for spiritual things in the life of a child of any age, as long as he or she is living under your roof, and do it in keeping with the way he or she is made--disciplining evil while affirming and encouraging the good, the artistic, the beautiful. When the child begins to walk alone, his or her path will be aimed directly toward the Savior, and he or she will continue to walk in God's sovereignty.


I am inspired by the above quote. God had a plan for my children from the moment they were conceived (You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:16) My most importatnt job as a parent is to help my children discover His plan.

In order to do this job effectively, I need to be attached to the Vine. I need to pray that God will continue to "cultivate a thirst, initiate a hunger and create an appetite for spiritual things" in my own life, so I can model what that looks like to my children.

My prayer is that God will use my children to further his kingdom. I can't wait to see what He has planned for their lives!

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