Guarantees

(Pro 23:19 KJV) Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

This is another place to see if your translation is politically correct.  Solomon is talking to his “son” (1121).  It is a Hebrew word, ben, that you see in names such as David Ben-Gurion.  It generally does not mean “children”, but that is just one of my pet peeves.  The point here that I am looking at is the responsibility of the children for whom they become.  I just participated in a discussion with a group of fathers and if there is one question they might have asked it would have been, “What could I have done different as a father?”  Even more on their hearts was, “What can I do now?”

Often the answer is, “Not much.”  We can teach.  We can model.  We can pray and fast.  We can do it all right and if the child will not “listen” (8085) [shama] there is not much you can do.  Remember that God did it all right and Eve still bit the apple.  Jesus did it all right and Judas still betrayed him. 

So?  Be willing to let your children make their decisions.  God did as much for you.  I don’t think there are any guarantees on things like this.