Instructions

I put our son's crib together last night. As I was pulling all the parts out of the box I heard my mothers voice in my head; "Your just like your father, he never reads the directions." When I was about thirteen my mom bought an entertainment stand. I thought I knew how to put it together, after all I was thirteen and I knew it all. So, when I was finished I had a lot of parts left over and just thought that they had given me extra. As we set the T.V. on the stand it shifted to the right and looked like the Leaning Tower.

As Lisa and I started getting these gifts for our baby shower we were told if they bought it at Wal-mart they would assemble it for free. Well that sounded good to me! Lisa on the other hand didn't want a stranger assembling anything for us that would be used for our child. As a matter of fact, she put together her rocking chair.
So, what has the Lord shown me through these two spiritual truths? He lead me to this verse;

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

You see, I never had proper instruction from a father to listen to the Lord. I wasn't trained in what the values of life and Godliness were. It was like the entertainment stand, I was going about it in my own way and in my own strength with no guidance and I ended up with a wobbly life at best. God has so much more for us. Fathers, Mothers train your child in the way it should go. Now I am not talking about using the bible as a text book for life. Had my father taken instructions from the Instructor and had been in my life I would have seen him putting things together. He would have shown me how to do things by simply the way he lived. Jesus left us with His example... not to do what He did, but to have the kind of relationship with the Instructor (The Father) that He did. The bible is good for instruction if you are listening to the Instructor breathe it into your life. The instruction manual just shows you what the Instructor is already doing, or has done.
So Parents, are you training your child up in the way they should go? Or are you letting the people at the "Wal-marts" of this world teach your children? You see, Lisa didn't want anyone else to put our things together. She didn't trust their handy work. She feels that since they aren't taking it home to use it, why should they take any real care in putting it together. For the sake of convenience we will allow others to practically raise our children. Sure we have all the excuses in the world; to busy... well now that I think about it, that excuse covers them all! Has not God taken all that He is and so willing made it available to us through Christ? Can't we do that for our children? I don't want anyone to train my child... that's my privilege that God has given me, now I am going to listen to the Instructor and take time and care in my son.