Tradition from the biblical world records a practice of mothers with their newborn infants. To stimulate the nursing reflex, a mother would rub the juice from a crushed date on the lips and palate of the infant to stimulate the sucking reflex. That idea is consistent with the meaning of the Hebrew word for “train up” (or “start”) in Proverbs 22:6. The word for “train up” is also translated as “dedicate”—as in dedicating a house or a temple (Deuteronomy 20:5; Ezra 6:16; 1 Kings 8:63). 

Initiate, start, dedicate, train up—all are in the semantic range of meaning when it comes to raising a child so he will not leave the moral and spiritual “way” when he is old. The book of Proverbs suggests two primary means for raising a child in “the way”: instruction and correction (discipline). Instruction identifies the way and starts him on it; correction puts him back on the way should he stray from it.

If you are a parent or grandparent, keep these two priorities in clear focus for the children in your family.

Children need to be trained, not just in the facts of life, but in the ways of life.
Anonymous