KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Train
THE HEBREW PHRASE "train up" came from agrarian terminology, which referred to training a tree or vine to grow in a particular shape or direction...
If you have ever been to Disney World, you have seen those fascinating shrubs shaped like animals and various Disney characters. Recently, I had the privilege of going backstage at Disney World, and I saw how those bushes were formed. Of course, those bushes don't grow that way by themselves! (Even Disney doesn't have that kind of magic). Over a ten-to-fifteen-year period, from the time those bushes are planted, they are shaped, trimmed, pruned, and "trained" in the way that they should go. Some parts are removed, other parts are cultivated, and still other parts are trimmed away; finally, the entire plant conforms to a wire mesh in the shape of the desired animal or character. (See here.)
THOUGHT: That is exactly the process by which are to train our children. It must begin early. To put it another way: "If you wait till they date, it's too late" (James Merritt).
KneEmail: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6).