ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Pulelulu ‘Okatopa 18, 2023

Train up or Dedicate

‘Atu Ako pe Fakatapui

PROVERBS 22:6

TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO; EVEN WHEN HE IS OLD HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT.

PALOVEPI 22:6

‘Atu ako ki ha tamasi‘i, ‘o taau mo hono ‘alunga, Tala atu, ‘oka ne ka motu‘a ‘e ‘ikai te ne hiki mei ai.

This well-known verse may not be known as well as we assume. The verb rendered "train up" is chanak, which occurs only five times in the Bible. In four of these, what is chanak is a house, either a domestic dwelling (Deut. 20:5 [twice]) or the Lord's temple (1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chron. 7:5). To chanak a building is to "dedicate" it, to say, "This place belongs to so-and-so. It's his and no one else's." Chanak is behind the word Hanukkah, the Jewish festival at which the temple's "rededication" is celebrated. Bearing in mind the other four occurrences of chanak, we get this: "Dedicate a child in the way he should go [literally, 'according to his way']; even when he is old he will not depart from it."

We chanak our children in baptism. In that liquid exchange, they pass from us to the arms of our Father. They become his house, his little temple, where his Son and Spirit "make [their] home with him" (John 14:23). He says, "This child belongs to me. I am his or her Father." Parenting is hard. As moms and dads, we fail in many ways. But in one way, we cannot fail: when we hand our children over to their dear heavenly Father. 

Bless our sons and daughters, heavenly Father, with your grace and paternal

compassion.