When Life Re Presents What God Planted

Proverbs 22:6

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

I read Proverbs 22:6 as a wisdom principle about the lasting influence of godly training, and I will say plainly that it is a reading. The Hebrew behind in the way he should go has been carried more than one way, and I cannot settle that for you. What I take from it is that what is planted early in a person’s life leaves a deep imprint. And I do not read it as a mechanical guarantee that every child will live faithfully forever. And in the passages I have walked, a person is still answering for the choice in front of him. Even after receiving truth, every individual must decide whether to walk in it.

Yet the proverb does say something about lasting. When he is old, he will not depart from it. And what I take from that is that a thing planted early is not easily erased.

He Came to Himself

This helps us understand the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. Although the parable was not written to explain Proverbs 22:6, it beautifully illustrates its principle. The younger son left his father’s house and pursued his own desires. He exercised his free will and walked away from everything he had known. However, when famine, disappointment, and brokenness overtook him, Scripture says,

Luke 15:17

“And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”

And do not stop at verse 17, because the next verse is where you hear what was in him.

Luke 15:18

“I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.”

Father, I have sinned. He knew where to go, he knew what to call himself, and he knew what to say when he got there. Nobody taught him that in the far country. That is the training talking, and the hearing of it that way is mine. Luke gives me the words. He does not tell me where the son learned them.

Life has a way of re presenting what God has already planted.

And here is what that has looked like in the lives I have watched, and the list is mine. A familiar Scripture suddenly comes to mind. A lesson once ignored begins to make sense. A mother’s prayers are remembered. A sermon heard years ago speaks again with fresh clarity.

Training Does Not Remove the Will

This does not mean that training forces a person to return. In the parable the father did not go and fetch him, and the son still had to get up and go. What I have found is that God teaches, warns, convicts, corrects and draws. And that love invites rather than compels is how I hold it.

So the training does not fetch anybody. It gives a person something to recognise when they are lost.

And here is what I have come to believe about how it comes back. The Lord can use circumstances, consequences, conviction and remembrance to awaken what was planted long ago. Whether a person responds is still theirs.

And Paul says something about those who never had the law at all.

Romans 2:14

“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:”

Romans 2:15

“Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness...”

Their conscience also bearing witness. Now Paul is speaking there of Gentiles who did not have the law, and not of people raised outside a Christian home. That I bring it here is my reach. And here is what I have come to believe. Where the Word was planted early, there is more for a conscience to reach for.

Keep Sowing

This is one of the great blessings of faithful training. Parents, teachers, and mentors may not immediately see the fruit of their labor. There may be seasons when it appears that every lesson has been forgotten. And here is what I have watched. God’s truth has a way of remaining in the heart. Years later, through joy, sorrow, failure or mercy, life may re present what was once planted.

Our responsibility is not to control another person’s choices. Our responsibility is to faithfully sow truth, God’s responsibility is to continue working through His Spirit, the individual’s responsibility is to respond.

So never underestimate the value of teaching a child, encouraging a new believer, or speaking God’s Word into someone’s life. You may not see the harvest today. And I believe the seed you faithfully plant may become the very truth God brings back to their remembrance when they need it most.

Reflection

Truth that is planted in love is rarely wasted. That is what I have seen, and it is not a promise Proverbs makes. Though it may seem hidden for a time, I have watched God bring it back to the heart through the experiences of life. And when He does, the invitation is the same one the son took. Arise, and go to the Father.