Jesus never wrote a book, never “taught a course,” and never created nor led a corporation, yet He was the most influential man who ever lived. He invested personally and primarily in just twelve others. How could such a simple, unsophisticated method influence millions?
Today, we tend more toward a “microwave” way of thinking. We want to do it quickly. Efficiently. But Jesus did neither. He took all the time necessary. He was patient. He invested for the long haul.
And that’s what He calls us to do as parents. We usually have about two decades to invest in our children and prepare them for a launch into a hostile world. Psalm 127 calls children “arrows in the hands of a warrior.” All of us are in the battle for truth versus lies, God vs. Satan. We want our children to eventually be well-prepared warriors on the side of what is true and good and right! After all, our life on earth is a mere vapor “that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
A heart for eternity changes things. By having a small group of disciples follow Christ, the Father knew it would change the world. It still can. While “a big reset” is what globalists have planned right now, homeschoolers have a different reset in mind.
“Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.”
The discipleship of our children is key – more so now than even in the 1980’s when a fresh crop of twentieth-century homeschoolers first started talking about this.
In the Hebraic model of discipleship, God is the Beginning and the End of all things. He is both the foundation and the goal, if you will. All things come under Him and point to Him: nothing is peripheral. Everything comes under His Lordship. What can I do to glorify God? What does He want of me?
The Greek mindset, by contrast, places man at the center of the universe. The end goal is to be successful men and women, making a name for ourselves and gaining the acclaim of others. What can I do to gain success, power, and influence – have more, be more, be known as more?
These are dramatically opposing worldviews. Either life revolves around us, or life revolves around God. Anthropocentric or theocentric. Man at center or God at center.
So, stop and consider this vital question: What is the purpose of your life? Your children’s lives? Your purpose will drive your preparation. Where you’re headed determines where and how you prepare. If, for example, a doctor would not prepare for his life’s work at a music conservatory, why would people of faith release their children into a school which deliberately excludes God and His Word?
Who will you glorify?
The old catechisms assert that our life’s purpose is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Do you believe that? Do you believe that enough to raise your children to know and believe it, living daily like it’s true?
The Bible teaches us that life is not really about my want-to’s. It’s far more about what God, my Creator and Savior, wants. In contrast to the Greek mindset of making ourselves the center of the universe, the Hebrew approach to life and education becomes instead the biblical mandate to die to self. I am no longer *Lord,* God is! The most interesting thing about that concept is that it doesn’t lead to slavery or inferiority as we might be tempted to think! Instead, it frees us from enslavement to sin and public opinion and satisfies us with true joy and contentment!
The Psalmist says it this way, “It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer and sets me on high places.”
As parents, we are either moving our children toward humanism or toward godliness. We can’t “save them”; only Christ can do that. Ah, but we can disciple them. So the question remains, are we homeschooling as a Greek or a Hebrew?
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