“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
June 5, 2021
Are we training our children? The word train in the dictionary says this: “to prepare for a contest, to instruct by exercise, to drill, to form to a proper shape, to discipline for use.” Great basketball players do not learn how to play basketball by reading a book. They are trained. They are coached. We have to train and coach our children. We have to pray. We have to teach. We have to plead. We have to show by example.
If we teach our children and that’s all we do, we’ll teach them one thing, but someone else can come along and teach them something else. But when we train them, they get something through the pores of their skin into their very psyche through this training. There’s a difference between teaching and training.
Take time this week to train someone else—whether a child or another person close to you—in a practice of the Christian life.
For more ways to spend time in God’s Word, check out the devotional books in our store.
I try to unplug each morning with Jesus with just my rocking chair, my Bible, and a pen.
Having a secret place is very important because I know that Jesus is always there waiting for me. I know where I can find Him! His presence is everywhere, but there are places where it is so thick you can cut it with a knife. You may not even have a front porch, but there is a secret place for you as well. God’s invitations are for anyone who will respond. There is no more important request than the one found in Psalm 27:8: “My heart has heard You say, ‘Come and talk with Me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’”