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. Likewise, some Christians 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.
One of the important tenets in Deuteronomy 6:7 is to 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 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 to the stability of our nation. According to WebMd, some of the ways to teach healthy eating habits to 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 designated 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 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.
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.” We are all responsible for the health of our nation’s children.
BE CONCERNED and BE PROACTIVE
We all must also be concerned about the education and the welfare of our nation’s youth and children. We cannot leave it to “governments,” “our religious places of worship” or “someone else.” We must all be involved and informed.
Some of the things we may want to monitor or concerned include:
- The high school graduation rate in your state: See: https://www.usnews.com/high-schools/best-high-schools/articles/2017-05-17/map-see-high-school-graduation-rates-by-state. For example, Maryland and the District of Columbia are listed as having zero schools with 100% graduation rates.
- English and Math Proficiency: According to the California Department of Education in 2017, 76% of the Asian students met or exceeded standards in English, and 72% met or exceeded the standards in math, while only 31% of African-American students met or exceeded the standards in English and only 19% met or exceeded the standards in math.
- Sunday School Enrollment and Youth Church Attendance: Visit the children and youth Sunday School classes where you worship and do a head count for a month. How many elementary, middle school, high school and college students do you have? In “Has the Sun Set on Sunday School,” by Melissa Pandika, March 22, 2015, she notes that between 1997 and 2004 churches lost tens of thousands of Sunday School programs. See, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/22/ozy-has-sun-set-on-sunday-school/25080073/. Many other articles describe a decline in baptisms, worship attendance, membership, and Sunday School attendance spanning a period of many years.
We might add to the above list:
4. College attendance and graduation rates;
5. High school drop-out and juvenile incarceration rates:
6. Rates of youth opiate addiction, suicide, and deaths due to gun and gang violence
We have to all be concerned and proactive. We must all stay involved in the lives of our children, youth and young adults.
The next generation is depending on all of us. We in turn, need to continue to depend on GOD for help, guidance and direction.
So teach, be a good role model, continue to pray and BE BLESSED!
