THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
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Doyal Van Gelder tells about his son, Ronnie, getting ready for kindergarten one morning. Ronnie turned to his father and said, "I think I'll be sad today."
His father asked why, and Ronnie replied, "Because when you're sad about something, the teachers take turns hugging you."
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Gen 34:1-2
1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
KJV
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So far as we can tell, Dinah was Jacob's only daughter (about 16 at that time), and she went out to "look about." In today's terms, Dinah wanted to "hang out" with the other young people. But unsupervised "hanging out" leads to trouble!
Dinah went out to see and be with the other young people, but she let herself be "swept away" by this young man. She was immature and weak in Biblical background and understanding. She was incapable of appropriately handling her emotions. And she became a willing victim of worldly manipulation.
The Bible tells us that mothers and older women should "...teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." (Titus 2:4-5)
The Bible also teaches us that "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child." (Proverbs 22:15) Inappropriate behavior is natural to children and young people. Sometimes it requires correction to "drive out" the foolishness. But proper direction will teach mature handling of situations. Even when proper correction and direction is given, young people still need to be supervised in their "hanging out" and especially in dating.
Young people will easily be swayed by the things of the world. They are easily "swept away" by the powerful emotions of the world, which may appear gratifying to them. Emotions are a part of our lives. They are good, but we have to learn how to use them in an appropriate manner.
Parents, we must teach our children that the ways of the world are not consistent with the ways of God. Children and youth need a good Biblical background and understanding in order to face the manipulations of the world.
They also need supervised visitation with other young people.
Love ya,
Bruce