Deuteronomy 6:4-7 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our GOD is one LORD: And thou shall love the LORD thy GOD with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. [ King James translation]
Scripture Discussed
Many people believe that the secular education of their children is the sole responsibility of the nation’s school system. If they are Christians, some believe that the religious education of their children can be assigned to their church Sunday School. However, the book of Deuteronomy makes it clear that the education of children must also occur in the home.
Deuteronomy 6:4 is called the “Shema,” a Hebrew word which translated means “Hear,” the word that begins the verse. It is as if the speaker emphatically tells its audience to “LISTEN UP!” because what is about to follow is really important. What follows is what some consider the “heart” of Judaism and the basic principles of the religious faith. First, the scripture tells the hearer, GOD is one. Deuteronomy then commands that we should love GOD with all our heart, all our soul and all our might. Second, Deuteronomy states that we should teach the children. Teach them when you are just sitting around talking with the children at home, when the children wake up, when the children lie down and in generally when you are just out and about walking with them every day. Deuteronomy states that education of the nation of Israel’s children should not to be delegated to a school or to a church but that children should be “home schooled.” Teaching a child about GOD is as vital as eating and sleeping. It is simply fundamental. It is necessary for healthy living. It is necessary for survival---the survival of one generation to the next.
Teaching children about Eating
Teaching children healthy eating habits and modeling those behaviors is also important to the growth and development of healthy children today and the stability of our nation. According to WebMd, some of the ways to teach healthy eating habits for children are to:
Guide your family’s choices rather than dictate foods: Make a wide variety of healthful foods available in the house. This practice will help your children learn how to make healthy food choices. Leave the unhealthy choices like soda and juice at the grocery store. Serve water with meals.
Eat meals together as a family as often as possible. Try to make mealtimes pleasant
with conversation and sharing, not a time for scolding or arguing. If mealtimes are
unpleasant, children may try to eat faster to leave the table as soon as possible. They then
may learn to associate eating with stress.
Involve your children in food shopping and preparing meals. These activities will give you hints about your children’s food preferences, an opportunity to teach your children about nutrition, and provide your kids with a feeling of accomplishment. In addition, children may be more willing to eat or try foods that they help prepare.
Discourage eating meals or snacks while watching TV. Try to eat only in designed areas of your home, such as the dining room or kitchen. Eating in front of the TV may make it difficult to pay attention to feelings of fullness, and may lead to overeating.
Encourage drinking more water and using less salt and sugar. Children often eat what their parents eat. They imitate their parent’s eating patterns or learn to eat what you give them to eat. If salt and sugar are not a part of their normal diet, they will probably not crave salt and sugar as much. If they know that water is generally consumed with meals or that soda not a meal time drink, they are less likely to crave soda when they eat. If you teach and explain, you are likely to get better eating habits.
Make sure your children’s meals outside the home are balanced. Find out more about their school lunch program, or pack their lunch to include a variety of foods. Also, select healthier items when dining at restaurants. Investigate whether your church serves healthy snacks.
Pay attention to portion size and ingredients. Read food labels and limit foods with trans fat. Also make sure you serve the appropriate portion as indicated on the label.
See, “Healthy Eating Habits for Your Child,” www.children.web.med.com.
Even if you have no children or are “empty nesters” it is still important to “model” good healthy behavior because all of us are “around children” ---at church, on public transportation, at other’s homes and when we invite friends and relatives with children or other’s children to our homes. We are all responsible for the health of our nation’s children.
BE A Good Role Model
There is an old African American Proverb that says “Each one, teach one.” The phrase originated in the United States during slavery, when many Africans and African Americans were denied educations, including learning how to read or write. Slaves were kept in ignorance in order to prevent them from learning anything beyond their immediate circumstances so that they could be completely controlled by their slave masters. When a slave was able to surreptitiously learn to read or write, it became their duty to teach someone else; thus spawning the phrase, “Each one teach one.” See, www.wikipedia.org, “Each One Teach One.”
Just as it is important to teach children to love GOD or to have healthy eating habits, it is equally important to not only teach one, but to be one---BE a lover of GOD and have healthy eating habits oneself.
So today, let us all “LISTEN UP!” Let us all strive for greater physical and spiritual health not just for ourselves, but for “the children.” Let’s pray to BE good role models; to BE good teachers; and to BE good students as we learn and study GOD’s word.
One well known preacher put it this way: “Preach the GOSPEL at all times; and if necessary, use words.” Our ancestors just said: “May the works I done speak for me.”
Today, BE the GOSPEL and BE BLESSED!
