The Power of Water

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Ever consider the power of water.


Take a bucket. Fill it with water. Put a stopper/plunger type lid on the bucket and keep pushing the lid down squeezing the water into an ever smaller space. Keep putting pressure on the water, pushing and pushing it. Give it no pressure release. The water will become exasperated and break through the seal with explosive force.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. Colossians 3:21

Take the same water and channel it properly through a hydroelectric power plant and there's enough power to light up cities.

A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power. Proverbs 24:5

Take the same water and let it go wherever it will with no limits whatsoever. The water will spread out, directionless and turn into a flat swamp of death and decay.

Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks. Ecclesiastes 10:18

Fathers  especially should take note of this parable and learn to channel your children. Don't shove them down into a bucket but don't let them go wherever they will.


This parable doesn't just apply to children. It applies to all leaders and all people who need a leader. An authoritarian style of leadership (push leadership) incites rebellion and resistance. But a liberal and permissive style of leadership creates an atmosphere of idleness and decay.