I have been around horses most of my life and even learned a few life lessons along the way. Here is one simple concept.
How does one lead a horse away? It is pretty simple. Loose the horse from whatever is holding it. Then you can lead it anywhere you want it to go. A horse may think he is being set free from the tether, but he is merely being led away by something or someone else.
Sounds like we could make a proverb out of this. How about…
“You cannot lead a tethered horse anywhere.”
Or this…
“Before you can lead a horse away (astray) you must first untie him.”
It’s a simple thought, but when applied to humans it is a truism with profound consequence. Think for a moment about what happened to Eve. She bound herself to God as her source of protection and guidance. She trusted Him. The Great Deceiver, wanting to lead her away, first loosed her from God’s instruction (Genesis 3:1-6). He knew Eve wanted to follow her desires. He merely helped her untie herself from God’s guidance. (Recall Satan is a liar. It is his only mode of operating, if you don’t count his other mode, slander.) His goal was to make Eve believe she was being set free. We all think being free is good. Free is good, isn’t it?
Eve thought she was being set free, but she only traded one master for another.
Through the deceiver’s suggestions and insinuations (remember, he is also a slanderer) Eve decided God was not really good. How could He be good? He forbade what she desired! This is the pattern of broken reasoning mankind has followed since with disastrous results. We want what we want and reason that freedom will get us what we want. And…we convince ourselves that in God’s outdated guidance He does not have our best interests in mind. So…we untie ourselves and are led away.
What does this have to do with raising teens? Just about everything. We want our teens to be secured to our guidance through love and trust, knowing there are many voices trying to untether them from us and from the truth.
Are you strengthening the good bonds of love and trust that will keep your children connected to the truth? When you step back and take a good, hard look at the loud voices talking to your children every day–social media, television, music, Tik-tok, internet–do you have a plan for their protection?
What proverbs could you write today?