…The wise man said, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Training up a child, in its fullest sense, is by example and by instruction or teaching. Many Christian parents are either scared, do not know how, or simply balk at the idea of teaching their child what God says in His Word because they themselves need to learn these lessons first. Elgar, the well-known classical composer who, unlike the great composers of his ilk doubled up as music teachers in between composing their great masterpieces, said in disdain, “Teaching is like turning a grindstone with a dislocated shoulder.” Parents may detest the idea of instructing their children of the way of the Lord but it certainly does not excuse nor spare them the certain heartaches later in life.
Such is the lesson conveyed in the example of Manoah and his wife, parents of Samson. But no parent or child need despair. The plan of salvation of the gospel is redemption and deliverance from not only the power of sinful habits and practices but also over hereditary tendencies transmitted from the gene pool from the parents. Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Grace and faith, particularly in these last days, are given particularly to those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” in order that they may overcome all their sins and emerge triumphant in the end.