When they are old they will not depart
Proverbs 22:5-7
6 Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This past Sunday I taught adult Bible study to the oldest class in our church. The lesson was from Ezekiel and dealt with shepherds leading the people astray. I told them that I thought the generation to whom I was speaking did a better job of passing along both the tradition of the church and love for the church than my generation. I was surprised to find that many of the class members have children who no longer attend church.
A few months ago I asked my 34 year old son what will happen to the church if his generation does not return. He said, “Oh, mom, the church will go on.” “How,” I asked him, “will the church continue without people?”
I love my son dearly, and I love his wife, but one of the great disappointments of my life is their choice to stay away from church. Perhaps it is because she is Catholic and he is Protestant. Perhaps it is because they both work so hard that they feel church would take up too much of their off time. Perhaps they see the church as irrelevant. Or, perhaps it is as my son once said, “Mom, I think I got enough church growing up.”
Prayer comforts me and today’s verse sustains me, because I know that we raised our son to love God and love the church. I continue to pray that God would soften their hearts and draw them back to Him. In the meantime, I trust, believe and rely on God to keep them in the shadow of His mighty wings and by His prevenient grace draw them to Him. What more can we ask? What more can we hope?
PRAYER: Father, your Word is light and life to us, and we depend on your Word to carry us through. May we each see the fruition of this verse come to pass, that our sons and our daughters would return to the place of their youth. Amen.
- Posted in: Blogs ♦ Faith
- Tagged: adult bible study, holy bible, prevenient grace, religion, spirituality
Seeking Holiness 
That part about shepherds leading people astray is so true in our times. Many are wolves in sheep’s clothing or don’t practice what the Word says. My oldest daughter dropped out of church as a teenager when the pastor committed adultery with the church secretary. She saw a good friend’s family break up. After many years of praying for her, and after the influence of the Christian school her daughters attend, she and her family have returned back to church. Praise God. In Proverbs 22:6, it says “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” We must STAND on this Word for our children and grandchildren so God will prove Himself Faithful and True. Amen.
Thank you so much for your comments. Praise God that your daughter has returned to church. Blessings, Carol
Our son always stopped going to church – just because, no real reason. But something happened in his life and I praise God to this day that he sought council with a pastor instead of with alcohol. It was a friend from college who talked him into going to her pastor, I believe it was also the foundation we laid out for him, so I agree with the verse “when they are old they will not depart from it” It takes years and prayers, but the foundation is there and they will return to it. God bless and I will pray also for your children…Patty
Thank you so much for your encouragement Patty. Praise God that your son is back where he belongs.