January 24 (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)
He
was not sure where to sleep because the previous night his home had been
attacked with an automatic weapon using hollow-tip bullets. She could not participate in class for grief
over her grandmother and aunt who had been strangled to death over the
weekend. And when a teenaged boy comes to you in
tears, you know something is wrong, so you listen patiently as he tells you
about going to a local stress center and the myriad battles he faces both at
school and at home.
Friends,
these are real children. They are
students with whom I have interacted over a period of one week. In many ways, childhood has always been a
dangerous time. Child labor, child
soldiers, child prostitution…adults have preyed upon and used children since
the world began. We have a vision of
what childhood should be, one of innocent exploration of a mysterious and
wonderful creation. It is a good vision,
but make no mistake. It is a vision of
what can be and not necessarily of what is.
We
all have children to rear. They may be
our own, they may be our students, they may be our grandchildren, the children
in our youth group, or the players on the teams we coach. They may be nieces and nephews or the kids
down the street. They may be the ones
who go every day to the library or that we see sacking our groceries. No matter your age or station in life, there
are children in your orbit. How will you
help them in the way they should go so that when they are older they will walk
with Jesus?
Father,
it is so easy for me to become consumed with the issues that directly affect me
and nothing else. Open my eyes to all
those around me. Help me to be
intentional in my interactions with them, whether in offering an act of love or
a word of truth. May everyone I
encounter walk more closely with You because of the work of Jesus in my life. In His holy name, I pray. Amen.
Copyright © 2016 by Steven R. Perkins
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