Devotional:Parental Education:Deuteronomy 6:4-12

“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘what do the testimonies and the statues and judgments means which the LORD our God commanded you’” (Deuteronomy 6:20, NASB)?

In recent months there has been an increase in the debate about what the schools are teaching children. Parents are getting upset because they have learned that the schools use books that some parents disapprove of. These parents believe that these books are inappropriate for children. Parents want to control what is being taught in the schools. On the other hand, other parents find no harm in these books and other classroom topics.

On one newscast that I saw the reporter was saying that the COVID-19 pandemic had one positive effect. The schools closed and the children learned virtually from home. Parents had to stay home with their children and help them with their school work. As parents got more involved in their children’s learning they became more aware of what their children were being taught. Parents were learning that it is not wise to leave it up to the schools to teach their children. As a result parents are getting more involved.

As I have listened to these news reports I have been reminded of my own educational process. I found it comical that I remember reading the book To Kill a Mockingbird. I was in the fourth grade. For me it was a lesson about race relationships in America. I do not believe that reading this book affected me negatively—my own opinion. Yet, this book is on the list of books that children should not be exposed to. I think that it had a positive effect on my life because I was able to read it through the lens of my parents teaching generally. I am reminded of Moses’ words to the Israelites as they are preparing to enter the Promised Land to take possession of it.

I think that my parents took an approach to life and education much like that of Moses. Moses knew that the people would encounter a people that worshiped idol gods. He knew that the people of the land lived lifestyles that God was forbidding them to live. What did Moses do? He reminded the people that they were in covenant with the Lord their God. The Lord had given them commandments that they were to live by diligently. The Lord was their only God. They were to fear the Lord and obey Him only. They were to teach their children whenever necessary. They should never forget that it was the Lord that brought them out of slavery in Egypt and given them the land in which they lived.

Moses’ approach was not so much the elimination of knowledge about the people who lived in the land. Instead, Moses placed emphasis on learning God’s commandments and obeying them. I believe that you can take away all the books that are believed to be inappropriate and monitor and prevent things that are not approved, but that will not necessarily promise that children are getting a good education. In our scripture Moses reminds the parents of their responsibility to educate their children in the ways of the Lord. Children that learn the right things from their parents are able to filter out the bad stuff; at least it worked for me. In addition to keeping bad learning materials out of schools, we there needs to be good parental education that focuses on the commandments of the Lord our God.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that parents will teach your commandments to their children. Amen.