Quite a few months ago I was reading one of my friend Miiko's posts on her JBC (Judah Bible Curriculum) lesson plans and the principle really spoke to me. I couldn't stop thinking about it and how very true it is. Bondage is voluntary. Freedom takes Godly character to maintain. The body of the lesson was about the Israelites when they were living in the desert. This life was no doubt difficult and they began desiring to go back to Egypt. I began thinking about how often I myself would rather choose to go back to Egypt than to go through God's preparation in my life to go in and posses the Promised Land. It reminded me of Much Afraid in her journey to the high places in the wonderful classic 'Hind's Feet on High Places'.

So often we don't want to go through anything that is difficult, we are forever searching for the easy road. We are so focused on the here and now that we don't see the big picture, that the very thing we are avoiding going through is the very thing that God wants to use in our lives to give us those hind's feet, to prepare us to go in and posses the Promised Land that he has for us.

As I was pondering these things God began to show me the application of this principle in education. In the entertainment driven society we live in fun has become the deciding factor on most everything we do.  Thank you Lord that our Founding Father's did not share this false worldview! Where would we be today if Patrick Henry had said "Forget liberty, give me fun!"

Education has not been immune to this trend. How many home-school curriculums boast their product as being educational and the most fun, with fun being the biggest selling point. Unfortunately this false idea had no problem finding it's way into my children's hearts as well, because their mommy reinforced it every time she used the word fun to describe what we were going to be doing in order to entice them to join her!

Not long after God had brought this teaching to me He brought me a perfect opportunity to share this lesson with my 7yo son who is probably the most inclined to not do something if it does not meet his requirements for fun.  As so often happens our school lesson became the catalyst used to bring out this false view of education and life that had taken root in his little heart. He was having a tough time understanding how to read a clock and after just a few seconds of trying he turned to me and said "You do it mom."  I quietly closed the book and he knew immediately he was in for a lecture, but what I said surprised him. I looked at him and said "That's fine, if you don't want to do school anymore it is completely up to you."  I went on to relate that if he chose not to then he was choosing ignorance and would be in bondage to others his whole life through needing them to tell him what time it was, read instruction to him and then explain what they meant because he would not be able to comprehend them. I related to him that his mind and the ability to learn was a gift from God and that there are some people out there who have mental disabilities and truly don't have the choice whether or not they will be in bondage to someone else. We talked about the Israelites who didn't want to go through God's preparation for them to go in and posses the Promised Land but instead wanted to go back to the bondage of Egypt. I explained that God wanted to prepare him to go in and posses the Promised Land that he had for his life, but that often that will mean persevering through tough things, including his education, to learn and grow and be prepared by God. We talked about the Godly character that is required in pursuing an education and that it often would not be fun but rewarding. I finished by telling him that it was his choice whether or not he wanted to go back to Egypt or go in and posses the Promised Land, I could not do it for him. I am happy to say that he chose the Promised Land!