Choose The Good Path

Posted on May 4, 2011 
Filed Under Fathering, Parenting, Personal, Spiritual Life

In Colorado, where our family makes its home, there are fifty-four “14ers” (mountains 14,000 feet or higher). Some outdoor enthusiasts make it a goal to climb all fifty-four.

I recently heard about one man who was climbing Mount Princeton with his son. As they neared the summit and the father scanned the trail, the boy shouted out from behind, “Choose the good path, Dad; I’m coming right behind you!”

That little fellow was instinctively reminding his dad to live the words of Proverbs 22:6:

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (ESV).

I won’t go deeply into the principles in this proverb, but I do want to note that it is just that – a principle. The verse isn’t a promise that “if you do just such and such, your child will turn out just fine and you won’t have any troubles.” As “wisdom literature,” there is a take-away nugget of truth, not a guarantee.

No parent can be certain their child will make good choices throughout life. But every parent can pray and hope that what we pass along to that child will, at the least, one day make sense and become a heartfelt conviction to them.

For the Christian parent, isn’t that the whole point of our effort to raise our kids? To train them to walk with God?

The truth is that you and I are leading our kids up a mountain. The journey is a walk of devotion to our God, and we have to personally choose the ‘good path” — because those children are right behind, following closely at our feet.

What path are you choosing today?

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