Posted in In line with Scripture

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His

commandments. His praise endures forever.”-.-Psalm 111:lO

If the impartation of wisdom must begin with the fear of God, and this first step is specifically excluded from all the state primary classrooms throughout the country, then please pause and consider: What exactly are the teachers in these classrooms imparting to our children? In Psalm 14:1 the Bible tells us that it is the fool who says in his heart that there is no God. State schools are not as subtle as the fool. They legally forbid God to be taken seriously in the classroom.

In the Christian home school parents can acknowledge Christ as the Creator, Sustainer, Sovereign and Lord over every area of life, thought, endeavour and study that He in fact is. No apologies, no need to ask permission of the headmaster or board to mention the “J” word, no unnatural embarrassment, no compromising. You have the sure confidence that you and your children are on the true road to wisdom, no doubt about it.

As this verse says, understanding comes from obedience to God’s Word. At best, even in Christian schools, this can only be dealt with in an academic way, while sitting at desks or in a group context as the class does something together. The Christian home schooler is out there where the rubber meets the road, in the home, in the marketplace, in the community, and is being watched closely by Mum and Dad. Parents can force obedience. They can demonstrate obedience in real-life situations. They and the children can experience the blessings of obedience together. Parents can set up situations to test the child’s promptness and attitude toward obedience. Parents are right there in all situations to point out to the child opportunities to obey, encourage them to do as they should, and then to drive the lesson home.

If you want your children to leave a permanent mark, if you would like to do that yourself, this verse has the answer: “His praise endures forever. “Do something which will bring praise to God. Matthew 5:16 helps us to flesh this out a bit: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Home schooling families do not have to waste time trying to debrief or detoxify their children after each day in the temples of secular humanism. Instead they can devote their energies exploring together how to let their light shine before others and doing good works and learning how to bring glory to God in everything that they do. “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Cor 10:31)

At some point many Christians would say that the above Scriptures are talking about spiritual instruction, not at all meaning technical instruction such as reading, writing, arithmetic, etc. Unfortunately for these folks the Scriptures do not allow for this interpretation. You simply cannot duck under Colossians 2:3, “Christ, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Now, I looked up that word “all” in the original Greek. Do you know what it means? It means “all”. That includes maths, science, philosophy, genetics, geology, astronomy, nuclear physics, and anything else you want to name as well as plain old reading, writing and arithmetic.

From Keystone Magazine
March 1995 , Vol. 1 No. 1
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
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email: craig@hef.org.nz