"Be Careful Out There"

As you read the book of Proverbs it becomes increasingly clear that this father is under no lofty illusions when it comes to his children or the world his children are living in. Early on in chapter 1 vs 10 he says to his son, “if sinners entice you do not consent.” This reminds us of a very important principle. We cannot keep our children from temptation. What we are called to do as parents it to prepare our children to be able to deal with temptation when it comes. Our children are going to face temptations. We can home school them, send them to Christian schools, keep them from all the “bad things” which is all well and good, but the bottom line is we cannot isolate our children from temptation.
The prevalent philosophy today, in the world and sadly even in the church to some degree, seems to be “prepare the road for the child” in stead of “prepare the child for the road.” Parents run ahead and try to manipulate all the bad things out of the lives of their children. They never have to experience disappointments or the “mean teacher” or all the other harsh realities of life. Parents just smooth everything over for the child. The child never learns to face hard things, never has to face difficult choices, and eventually when he gets out on his own he is introduced to a world that is harsh, unjust , and filled with temptations and he hasn’t a clue how to deal with it. The task of parenting is to prepare our children for the world. Not by trying to change their circumstances to make it easier but by teaching them and preparing them in their hearts to deal with what the world is going to throw at them.
This is not going to happen in a vacuum. It means we must be teaching our children and spending time with them. We must train them spiritually to know the deceitfulness of their own hearts. We must show them the need of Christ to save them from their sin and then teach them the principles of walking in spiritual victory found in Scripture. Proverbs is written by a father preparing his son for the “real world” but not only that he is teaching his son about his need for a wisdom and a strength outside of himself. He is teaching his son about his need of Christ.
I fear today we are relying to heavily on trying to insulate our Children from temptation instead of preparing them to face it. Certainly we do not want to throw them to the wolves at a young age, but we must be preparing them as they grow up to face some hard things in life, one of which is temptation. “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it”. Part of that training is training in spiritual warfare, learning how to resist and be victorious over temptation.
When sinners entice our children may they meet a child who has been taught how to handle victoriously such deceitful talk and to turn and listen to the voice of his parents and the voice of his savior Jesus Christ. May our children be found walking in his ways because they know him and love him and want to follow him into the abundant life he has promised to those who obey his word.