"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

This verse is almost the "Homeschoolers Anthem", and for good reason. It epitomizes the nature of what we are to be doing with our children: teaching at all times. In this passage the Lord had just given the Israelites the Ten Commandments, and they were preparing to cross the Jordan River in to the Promised land. The Lord knew that there would be many different temptations and circumstances to draw them away from his commandments. We must do the same and prepare our children for the "crossings" in their lives.

Our kids’ generation is the most marketed to generation in history. When I was a kid, it was Lincoln Logs or Tinker Toys, now it is X-box, I-Pods, Playstation, Harry Potter, DVD’s, CD’s, MTV, and Hollister. Each of these has some kind of moral content. The choices offered to our children are not morally neutral anymore like Lincoln Logs or Tinker Toys. They often are bold and unashamed in their message to our children. The backgrounds and themes are there with a worldview that is likely more dangerous than the things the Israelites were preparing to face.

As I see it, we are faced with the same task as spiritual generations of the past. We must realize this and follow God’s pattern. When we are in houses, on our way, lying down and rising up, we need to be putting the Lord’s message before our children. This world society is effectively marketing their message literally on a global scale. One of the great things about the privilege of home schooling is it that it puts us in the mode and gives us the freedom to be teaching in all the things we do.

Will the generation we are raising be Godlier than we are? Are we building a heritage of Godly children who will raise Godly children? Are we advancing the Kingdom of God by our teaching and training of our children? Are we making disciples of the little ones in our house? Will our children push further in the things of God than us? Well, not if we don’t make an effort each day to teach them diligently the things of the Lord. If we don’t, the world’s system will teach them as they "sit in the house, on the way, lie down, and rise up."

I am not telling you anything new, I am sure. I just want to encourage you and myself to be speaking and portraying the things of the Lord to our children so that they grow up and become the Godly Christian leaders the Lord has destined them to be. So that when they are asked to give a defense for their faith, they can boldly speak from a secure foundation that has been built upon day after day over a period of years. That is the kind of foundation that can’t be shaken.

Let’s go build it.

Dan Ruzicka

DCHEA Group Leader