Monday Memo 1171: The Way You Should Go

An oft-quoted proverb about raising children is found in this familiar verse:

Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it (Proverbs 22:6).

Of course, first and foremost, it would seem that this training pertains to instruction concerning God's requirements for righteous living. But I think it's more than that. As we learned in the last series, Never Too Young for Purpose, God is revealing to the young who they are and what He has created them to do. He was doing that for you in your early years.

But as we saw in that series, the concerns and difficulties of making a living can often derail or detour youthful purpose. But the good news in today's verse is that the instruction you received as a young person, whether about holiness or purpose, isn't as far away from you as you may think, no matter how old you are or how long since you have paid attention to it.

When I was young, I loved to collect stamps. I had a lot of U.S. stamps but the ones I really loved were the ones from other countries. I would research where those countries were located and promised myself, "I'll go there one day." Today I have been in more than 60 of those countries.

One of my rainy-day activities as a child was to play with my toy typewriter. I would type out articles from magazines or pages from a book and then stack the papers on my desk, pretending that I was writing a book. Today I have written 90 books and still going strong. Now that I look back, I see that the "way I should go" was evident in those two activities.

And I was always a good student. I went back to school when I was 57 to earn my doctor of ministry degree. And now, at age 74, I am learning Spanish and just started Ukrainian in preparation for a trip there in a few months. Studying was always part of 'my way' and there's no reason to stop learning now.

So what was part of your "way you should go" when you were younger? How can you reconnect with those things, regardless of your age? Are you thinking, 'I'm too old,' or are you thinking 'I can do all things through Christ and this is something I need and want to do'?

Your purpose and creativity don't have an expiration date and they are remarkably resilient and don't spoil or decay with time. Therefore, you're never too old for purpose thinking or purposeful action. I urge you this week to reflect on your past and find out what parts of it you can still bring into your present so you can have a purposeful future. Have a blessed week!