在1960年代美國電視劇《安迪·格里菲斯秀》中，有人建議安迪讓他兒子奧皮選擇自己想要的生活。但安迪並不贊同，他說：「你不能任由一個孩子自己做主，他會抓住第一件光彩奪目卻華而不實的事物，等他發現裡面有陷阱的時候，往往為時已晚。錯誤的觀念常常被包裝得無比華麗，以致我們很難讓孩子相信，從長遠來看，其他的選擇更好。」安迪總結說，最重要的是父母要樹立良好的榜樣，幫助孩子遠離誘惑。

安迪這番話正符合聖經中箴言那滿有智慧的教導：「教養孩童，使他走當行的道，就是到老他也不偏離」（22章6節）。儘管許多人把這節經文視為一個應許，但實際上這是一個指引。上帝讓每個人有自主權來決定是否要相信耶穌，但我們可以藉著愛上帝和祂的話語，來幫助孩子奠定信仰的根基。我們也可以為孩子禱告，祈盼這些我們照顧的孩子長大之後，願意接受基督為個人的救主，遵行祂的道，而不是走向「奸詐人的道路」（5節，新譯本）。

我們靠著聖靈而戰勝誘惑，抗拒光彩奪目卻華而不實的事物，也能成為強而有力的見證。耶穌的靈能幫助我們抵擋誘惑，並將我們的生命塑造成值得他人效仿的榜樣。

In the 1960s-era TV series The Andy Griffith Show, a man tells Andy he should let his son Opie decide how he wants to live. Andy disagrees: “You can’t let a young’un decide for himself. He’ll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there’s a hook in it, it’s too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter that it’s hard to convince them that other things might be better in the long run.” He concludes that it’s important for parents to model right behavior and help “keep temptation away.”

Andy’s words are related to the wisdom found in Proverbs: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (22:6). Although many may read these words as a promise, theyre really a guide. All of us are called to make our own decision to believe in Jesus. But we can help lay a biblical foundation through our love for God and Scripture. And we can pray that as the little ones under our care mature, they choose to receive Christ as Savior and walk in His ways and not “in the paths of the wicked” (v. 5). 

Our own victory over “flashy things” through the Holy Spirit’s enabling is also powerful testimony. Jesus’ Spirit helps us to withstand temptation and molds our lives into examples worth imitating.