Buckeye Blog
Oct. 17, 2008
The Biblical Basis for Homeschooling Christian Children ~ Pt. 7 ~ CONCLUSION

Posted in Associate's Thesis

 

CONCLUSION

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

 

            As Christian homeschool parents, the above Scripture is a basic guideline.  It points us to God’s attitude, methods, and principles. 

            “The words train up are not framed as a mere suggestion.  They are a command…In the original Hebrew, train up means ‘to touch the palate.’…Hebrew mothers would feed their children by first chewing their own food very carefully and, then, touching a little of it to their child’s palate.  With that intimate sharing, the mother would instill in her child a taste for the very same foods she enjoyed…To translate the metaphor educationally:  parents are to instill in their children a taste for their own delights by enjoying things together with their children.  By working together, studying together, playing together, and simply living the Christian life together, our children develop…a deep inner yearning, an appetite…These tastes will form the basis for their lifetime of joyful obedience to the Lord.”[1]

            Gregg Harris goes on to explain that “in the way he should go” describes that the kind of training our children are to get is training in righteousness.  No public, government-funded school will allow that.  It doesn’t fit the “I’m OK, you’re OK” lie.  Unfortunately, when someone lies someone has to be wrong – whether it hurts the feelings of another or not.  Hell is far more to worry about than hurt feelings.  By understanding that there is a right and a wrong – again, which public schools are loath to teach – it may be the difference between eternal hell and separation from God forever or salvation through a saving knowledge regarding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.

            And it seems that this train of thought brings us back to the favorite verse among homeschoolers, Deut. 6:4-7, in reminding us to teach God’s truths as we talk to our children in the home, and as we are walking along the way, and as we lay down at night telling stories, saying prayers and having wonderful bed-time conversation…only to rise up the next morning to start the whole cycle of teaching and demonstrating God’s truths as life is lived. 

            Homeschooling is a calling of God, for the training up of our children.  It is a commandment of God, as we are with our children nearly every hour of the day.  It is a revival of God, in that a remnant has been called to breathe fresh wind on a spark and watch it fan into flame across the land.  It is the truth of God, in an educational system dying from lies and deceit.  It is the tie that binds, when so many in the educational system are trying to divide children from parents.  It is a battleground, in the fight for our families and the minds and souls of our children and teens.  It is touching the palate, to taste and see that the Lord is good.

PLEASE make sure you read the other parts of the series!!

[1] Gregg Harris, The Christian Home School (Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1988), 63, 64


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Comments

Oct. 17, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by momto4beauties


I've loved reading this!! Praise God that we are able and willing to teach our children at home! Just the other day I spoke with a pastor on the subject, who told me he sent his kids to public school 'to be witnesses'. I couldn't believe that a pastor would believe that his own children were spiritually mature enough, as children, to withstand the pressures of public school...not cave in some way and still witness. Going through public myself..knowing plenty of "pk's" (aka Pastor's kids); I have yet to see one get through unscathed in some way whether by drugs, sex, or something else. Homeschooling, by far, is the best option when it comes to the spiritual health of our children.


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Oct. 18, 2008 - BRAVO!

Posted by Sammy4meowz


Thank you so much for sharing this with your readers! I have been blessed! I would love a copy of it!!! It is so good for us to encourage one another in our walk! We need to be reminded of why we are doing what we are doing so that we can continue to press on in God's calling for our lives! May the Lord bless you and your family greatly!!!


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