As I was reading the news this morning I saw that another parent of public school children was complaining about all that was going on in their public school. Her rant is worth watching as she pointed out some great issues. A couple of them were that we cannot ‘feel’ our way through life. Feelings are part of life, but we can’t base all of life and reason on them. She also talked about how we as adults need to be teaching our children how to prepare for their next steps in life, namely reading, writing, math, logical decision making, etc. It was a great speech, and one of the top ones I have watched concerning how the public schools are failing our society. But, as usual, something struck me as the main problem that these parents are not seeing.
As an analogy, if you took your family to a restaurant and you got food poisoning, you would likely be hesitant to return. But you might. If you went again, and again got food poisoning, I guessing you would never go back. You and your family’s health are to valuable. However, doesn’t the same thing go for education? If the minds of our kids are being poisoned by any education system, should we keep sending our kids back? Or do we just keep complaining but take no other action? How long does it take to turn that ship around? I am reminded of the saying, “Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” And I like to add this at times. “Fool me 342,579 times, I’m a complete idiot!!”
I am reading through Isaiah now in my second time through Scripture this year. And one thing that really stands out is that against all odds, Hezekiah trusted in God. He knew that the battle belonged to the Lord. And while the Assyrians were more powerful than Israel, God is infinitely more powerful than all. Sennacherib sent his envoys to Judah to tell them they should just give up now rather than chance getting wiped out. I mean, they had already defeated the rest of the nations around Judah, and Judah was one of the least among the nations at this time. But Hezekiah prayed, and the Lord answered his prayer and wiped out Sennacherib’s entire army, over 180,000. Why? Because of His commitment to David. God promised that David would have a descendent who would sit on the throne forever. David understood this to mean that the Messiah Himself would come through David and would forever be associated with David. This was God’s plan and design for having him as king. There was a plan and purpose for David and his line. Hezekiah was in that line, and God said He would defend Judah/Jerusalem for His own sake and for the sake of David.
When God makes plans, when God tells us His purposes, when God shows us His design, it is to our benefit that we take God seriously and follow His plans, purposes and designs. In Deuteronomy 6:4-7,
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
This shows God’s plan, purpose, and design for education. Teaching our children to love God with our heart, soul, and might is illegal to do in the public school, but this is exactly what God demands we do. So, it would seem that if we as Christians are going to follow God’s order, we need to pull our students from government schools and teach them how to love God with all of their being. In other words, stop complaining that someone else isn’t doing the job God designed and ordered you to do. You may need to make a few sacrifices, but your kids won’t be sacrificed on the altar of the Teacher’s unions. This may sound a bit harsh, but as I get older, I’m figuring out that life is just too short to be vague.
Amen
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