“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Pr22.6 NKJV
I think it is a mistake to assume that taking a child to a church gathering constitutes a healthy spiritual upbringing. Gathering for true worship may very well be a part of their spiritual training, but simply taking them to a service does not necessarily accomplish that. It is what we practice with our children not necessarily what we have practiced in front of them that will remain. Just as there is a difference in plowing shallow or plowing deep, there is a difference in praying with a child and simply praying in front of a child.
I think that maybe this word of wisdom is more an observation than a promise. In short, I think it is telling us that our children will practice what we have practiced with them. Practice makes perfect whatever is practiced. We may practice religion with our children and they will adopt similar expressions of a civil yet safely distant ritual of nodding in God‘s direction. We may practice true godliness with them and they in turn will wake and live before Him in faith, hope and love. The law of gravity is a two edged sword. It has wonderful benefits but the same law which holds us in our seats will dash us on the rocks below. So too, the practice of man made religion or the practice of a true relationship with the living God. 9/1/07 ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
