Growing up, I was blessed with being near both sets of grandparents.  Their cultures and backgrounds were very different as it was a formal time and proper English was important to them.  I’ll never forget one Thanksgiving where I said, “Don’t worry Grandma Treglown, we kids will play down in the basement.”  That simple phrase got me a lecture on grammar and word usage. First thing I heard was,“Kids” are baby goats!   You are children of God in His care.”   And as usual with her, a passage of Scripture followed:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

This is one of the most quoted proverbs in the Bible.  Here, King Solomon offers sound advice for parents that continues to our day.   When a child is raised with the right values, moral compass, and the right world view, those lessons will last a lifetime (Ephesians 6:4).   The literal word meaning implies that the rightly trained child of God will not deviate from this path.  Of course, we know because of the sinful world we live in, this doesn’t always happen. Despite the training from godly parents point their child, he or she may choose to follow the crooked path mentioned in verse 5.   However it is important to always remember that in Christ, this foundation of godliness gives each child something positive to “fall back on”.

On Rally Day at Faith Lutheran Church, I could see godly parents doing their best to direct the steps of their children.   The most important gifts that we can share with our children today is a knowledge of God’s Word, what it means to be a people of faith, and what it looks like to have a relationship with God.

Now as we get ready to celebrate the Reformation, we as Lutherans can embrace a sound and unique Biblically-based foundation for our children to embrace others in Christian love.  Our unique understand and open loving arms in the education programs at Faith Lutheran Church is the key component to the future of the Church.

Pray with me.

Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, bless our Christian education at Faith Lutheran Church in Naples, Florida. May this always be a place where we have as our goal to “train up a child in the way he should go.”  Strengthen, equip, and encourage all who teach and all who learn in them, so that Your name is praised and honored as knowledge, skill, and attitudes are imparted and acquired. With the ultimate prayer that when we are old, we will not depart from it.   Amen.

God bless our kids and the children of God!

Pastor Don Treglown