“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV)
Your children may be grown, but the verse above still applies to you. Some child of God who has not reached your spiritual level of maturity is looking and listening to you. Whether this child is young or older, from a chronological perspective, they are carefully observing how you, a long-standing Christian, a member of the royal priesthood, and in their orbit of church-going folks; they are looking at you. As a result they will be like the little toddler I am about to tell you about.
Doing my early morning store run one day, I am going down the cereal aisle. I’m looking for something two aisles away, but you never know where things are nowadays. A mother is pushing a grocery cart with her toddler child sitting face to face with her in that space set aside for young children as part. I’m just looking for One-Minute Oatmeal. Really I was not meddling, but I could not help listening.
I hear the mother tell the child, “No! You can’t have that Jay Junior Smith.” As the mother reaches for some non-sugar filled cereal, the toddler says, “No! You can’ have that LeAnn Marie Smith.” It made me laugh, but it was not funny. The mother replies, “Boy, don’t play with me!” The toddler, not at a lost for words, quickly responds, “Girl, don’t play with me.” The mother lunges her head forward with eyes that convey anger or frustration. She fake like she is about to tap on the child’s little hands. The little boy, not even two years old, lunges forward doing the same thing his mother was doing. What was this little kid doing? He was either mimicking, mocking, or masterfully copying his mother’s behavior and words. He was so good at it, I concluded he had done it before.
Children do that at times with their parents and it is most obvious to onlookers. And if the child does not do it right there or at any other time, it is because they have come to know what the consequences are for being a smart mouth. We know that what they see is planted in their subconscious and it will come to surface in the future when they are parents. They will think they are being original when dealing with their own children, but it is really that suppressed memory manipulating their words. It is really just the dormant mimicking, mocking, and masterfully copying that is coming out. Yes, in many cases they say the very same things that were said to them as children with the same measure of intensity.
Knowing this, let’s watch what we do. Specifically, on the Lord’s Day, let the children in your orbit, including grown-up children of God who have begun to forsake the assembly of the saints, let them see you going to church this morning. And let them see the church in you throughout the week. Model your Christian behavior and perhaps, hopefully, they will model you, but instead of mimicking, mocking, and masterfully copying, perhaps and hopefully they will be doing it from their heart. Set a good example this morning and throughout the days ahead. Have a positive impact on somebody! Enjoy worship! Be blessed!
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 Amplified Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King