Message
God expects parents to intentionally train their children so that the children can give them rest. Intentionally training children yields many benefits, but it is disastrous when parents don’t train their children in the right way. says that the father of a fool has no joy. In other words, if parents don’t want to spend the rest of their lives in sorrow, they should train their children in the way of the Lord. says that a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is his mother's heaviness. This means that when children are wise, they fear the Lord and follow His way, making their parents joyful. However, when they are foolish and don’t follow the way of the Lord, they make their parents sorrowful. It is non-negotiable for parents to intentionally train their children in the way they should go. This is so important that God commanded parents in today’s Bible reading to teach their children God’s way at every opportunity.
Training children in the way of the Lord starts with ensuring that they are filled with God’s word. Parents who are wise spend time memorising Scriptures and teach their children to do the same because keeping God’s word in their hearts will help them stay away from sin (). Sadly, memorising the Scriptures has almost become alien among many Christians. As a young Christian, I memorised the Bible often. Memorising the Scriptures has been extremely helpful for me. For example, when I travel to nations that do not permit visitors to come into their land with a Bible, it is the Scriptures I have memorised that I rely on. Unfortunately, many Christians these days don’t even read the Bible, let alone memorise it.
It is extremely important for parents and all other Christians to keep the word of God in their hearts; it is a command, as we see in today’s Bible reading. It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (). Some believers may not realise how bankrupt they are of God’s word until there is an emergency, because it is when pressure is applied to a container that its content becomes revealed.
Beloved, it is what your heart is filled with that will spill into the lives of those around you, including your children, if you are a parent. If you are not filled with God’s word, you cannot train your children in God’s way.