As a child I often drifted off to sleep to the sounds of a pounding hammer and a purring sewing machine. Days later, we children would stand in amazement at the transformation done by Dad in a remodeling job or a dress or suit made by Mother. Many evening hours had been invested by the carpenter and the seamstress in careful working out of a plan or a pattern to produce workmanship of singular beauty and serviceability for years to come.
God is busy building His children into “new men,” preparing them for service in His Kingdom. In my father’s workshop a plan became a product. In my mother’s workshop a pattern became a piece of clothing. In our heavenly Father’s workshop, principle (righteousness and holiness) must become a practice—a “life style” of “putting off the old man” and “putting on the new man.” “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” (II Cor. 5:17)
Where is God’s workshop? It is located in three places: the home, the church and the school. His instruments are ourselves as Christian parents, pastors and elders whom He has commissioned, and teachers who stand solidly upon His Word.
The method for building “new men” which God uses in His workshop is called training. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
The method of training involves two things: knowledge and experience. Had the writer of Proverbs chosen the word “teach” instead of “train,” we parents could be content to acquaint our children with certain facts about and commands from God. But the word “train” implies that in addition to instructing our children, we must personally see to it that the will of God is carried out in their lives. They as well as we, must be “doers” of the Word and not “hearers” only.
As parents we are expected to be examples of the principles and practices we seek to “train” in our them when such principles are violated in their lives.
As parents we are expected to be examples of the principles and practices we seek to “train” in our children. It is inconsistent, for example, for us to teach our children to “have no other gods,” and then set our priorities on the “things which perish” profit, power, prestige, pleasure or property. It is inconsistent to teach our children “thou shalt not steal” and then cheat on our income tax, leave bills unpaid, overcharge customers or clients, exploit poor or minority groups or rob God of our tithes and our offerings. It is inconsistent to teach our children “Thou shalt not bear false witness” and then proceed to manipulate facts so as to create a false impression, rationalize or excuse our own disobedient behavior, exaggerate our virtues and minimize our faults.
Our response as parents and children to God’s workmanship is to be one of obedience. This obedience has a negative and a positive side.
Negatively, it means saying “no” to sin and all of its allurements. Positively it means saying “yes” to all that God prescribes in His Word for His glory and for our happiness. A struggle ensues. Beginning in infancy when little ones are taught not to “touch” certain items, the struggle continues through childhood when orders must be obeyed; toys, friends and work loads must be s hared; lessons must be learned and discipline must be endured.
As life progresses, the struggle becomes more internal than external. Outwardly, lives may appear to conform to God’s prescription for godly living but internally, a battle is being waged between covetousness, greed, lust and bitterness on the one hand, and righteousness and holiness in thought, word and deed on the other. Praise God for the “sword of the Spirit,” the Word of God which equips us for the struggle. I Cor. 10:13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
Into many of our homes, His workshop, God has placed precious children. He has bound them to Himself in covenant and mandated us, His instruments, to “train” these little ones by teaching, example, encouragement and discipline, to say “no” to evil and “yes” to walking in God’s will revealed in His Word. This is His all–wise and all–loving “family plan” for building His Kingdom. It is a solemn task. But we have God’s wonderful promise that if we are faithful, our children will not depart “from the way they should go.” They may experience the security of God’s presence in their hearts. John 14:23 says, “. . . If a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” They may know the joy of being part of the “family” of God. In Matthew 12:50 Jesus says, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.” Can we desire anything more?
Some of the material in this series was first written for the 1976 Renewal. The address of Mrs. Vanden Heuvel, editor of this department, is 207 Kansas A venue, N. W., Orange City, Iowa 51041.