These directives from God is absolutely clear. They are real. They stand for ALL generations. Lack of financial resources, opportunities or circumstances of birth are of no excuse or import to these Biblical Commands from the God of all Creation, all the Universe and all Mankind. Absolutely no parent is exempt of accountability for these commands, anywhere in the world, at any point in history.
So how does this generation and all future generations (since it is too late for all who have gone before) avoid the fatal eternal mistakes of not bringing up their children in the ways of Yahweh? First we start with these important commands from our Heavenly Father and we establish a home, from Day One, where Jesus Christ is the Head of the Household.
This is so for one very valid reason – Christianity is the only Thinking Man’s religion. We do not need to examine any other fake system out there, which either requires a person to sit like a sponge and empty their mind so the god of this world can fill it with untruths or, some of the other systems which require a certain amount of “good works”, no matter how degenerate the person may be in their personal lives. They never say how much is enough “good stuff” or what percentage their god will accept.
Christianity calls the sinner to not just come and “reason” but to “test” the Words of the Lord of the Bible. He invites anyone and fellowship with and learn from Him. He also has a special place in His heart for the children and raising them in not only in the way they are to go. Educating our children in the ways of the Thinking Man’s Religion is mandatory. Look at the commands from the above Deuteronomy passage:
- Parents shall have the Word of God in our hearts. How? By reading, studying, memorizing and LIVING them (verse 6).
- Parents shall teach them DILIGENTLY. This is an active, ongoing command to take painstakingly good care to teach, instruct and demonstrate Godly attributes and His Character as found in His Word – the Bible (Verse 7a)
- Parents shall use every opportunity to demonstrate the power, majesty and creative brilliance of God in creation (nature) and everyday living. This runs the gamut from nightly prayer with the kiddos to grace before meals, married with regular church attendance- WEEKLY (verse 7b). Children should be taught that even the act of getting off the bed each morning is a gift from God. Having something to eat at breakfast and clean clothes are daily gifts from our Heavenly Father. Reference Matthew 6: for this….and more.
- Parents should teach by their actions and when given a choice, openly where Christian apparel or jewelry where appropriate and as much as possible, since we do not wear the little bible boxes and other items on our person as they wore back in Old Testament days. We are supposed to be the entire package (Verse 8).
- Parents should have something in their interior décor at our homes which tells the casual visitor; utility or repair man, that THIS is a Christian home. Deuteronomy 6:9 talks about writing the Word of God on “doorposts” – these are the Mezzuzahs which Jewish people still have by their front doors (see photo). Most people will not do this, but they will have coffee mugs with Bible verses; fridge magnets or inspiring canvases in their living rooms. These are the items which have and even stronger cumulative effect of some verses on the door, in a metallic container. The best Bible is the one which the world reads by looking at our lives.
So, what does any of this have to do with Critical Thinking? The answer is – more than meets the eye. A child brought up in a functional 100% Christian home with two parents already has the tools to win in life, without this child even realizing it. The first thing is salvation. When dad takes the family, or leads the family to church, statistics prove that the child is saved and born again 85% of the time!
What needs to take place next, is something for which parents are just as responsible. That would be instruction, mentoring and discipleship. Leading our children to Christ is the main event, but there is more. If they do not know about their Faith; how to study and comprehend it and then, how to defend it in the public arena, we would have fallen short.
In his book ALREADY GONE, Ken Ham along with his researcher Britt Beemer, keyed into the terrifying problem of church-raised kids who end up losing their faith by their sophomore year in College…and increasingly now – High School. While this book was released in 2009, the underlying discovery stunned the world of church leadership. Sure, we officially lost most church raised children in college. But the truth was that we lost them in 6th grade Sunday School!
Teens and millennials who walked away from Christianity; still call themselves “Christians” yet believed “all religions worshiped the same God”, are as lost as a grain of wheat in a soybean silo at Harvest Time. It is not they do not think, but they do not know how to think and process the information in the Bible…..because no one taught them. Most Sunday School members are well-meaning church members who may or may not have a well-read background in Apologetics (or how to explain/defend the Truth of Scripture). Most youth group leaders are even less trained and more apt to direct towards fun, games and entertainment than serious, deep age-appropriate bible study.
So, in light of all of this, how can we get this steadily downward trend to a halt before we can even attempt to turn the tide? We appeal to the mind and the heart of the young person. It is never too late to start. The following two components are absolutely essential:
- Take the time to teach critical thinking to your own kids, or hire a tutor.
- Promote actual book reading (as in physical books) to compliment what is being taught
- Spend time doing writing exercises with the kids which will cause them to both think and then write it down in a coherent fashion.
Teaching our children, as God commanded, about the Bible and Faith is critical to grasp every other aspect of life. The reason the vast majority of people under 30 years old have no hope, no core belief and no eternity in mind, is because they were misled in churches or never got to the front door in the first place.
We must teach them first to think on their own but according to God's Truth - NOT the world and through the brainwashing they receive in public schools and bad private schools.
We must teach them to understand both the meaning AND consequences of Words and especially the long term results of living part from the pure Word of God.
We must teach them to evaluate each situation against the plumb line of Truth, because there is this yardstick called Absolute Truth. There are things which are black and white.
We must teach them that their misled peers who do not believe there is Absolute Truth are not thinking individuals but are misled into making absolute statements which can be absolutely denied by our children, under the terms of logic.
We must raise them up in the way they should go, because this is our ultimate responsibility, to which we will answer before God, if we fall short - like all of the secular world, and sadly, too many Christians.
We must teach them first to think on their own but according to God's Truth - NOT the world and through the brainwashing they receive in public schools and bad private schools.
We must teach them to understand both the meaning AND consequences of Words and especially the long term results of living part from the pure Word of God.
We must teach them to evaluate each situation against the plumb line of Truth, because there is this yardstick called Absolute Truth. There are things which are black and white.
We must teach them that their misled peers who do not believe there is Absolute Truth are not thinking individuals but are misled into making absolute statements which can be absolutely denied by our children, under the terms of logic.
We must raise them up in the way they should go, because this is our ultimate responsibility, to which we will answer before God, if we fall short - like all of the secular world, and sadly, too many Christians.
