“Whom will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.” (Isaiah 28:8-10)
Thoughts: In this passage the immoral- but- educated leaders are making fun of both 1) their need to be taught by God, and 2) the way children are taught. In reality, we must humble ourselves as little children to learn anything. If we think we know-it-all, we will not learn.
But for our purposes, this passage emphasizes that young children (just weaned) should be taught, and taught with patience and repetition. In scripture education of young children began as soon as possible, and had deep influence on that person the rest of their lives.
We live in a day in which most families have both parents working, and the government does not provide adequate or safe daycare/preschools. President Obama addressed the need for universal preschool in his inaugural speech. But a government that is $17 trillion in debt will have a hard time beginning another multi-billion program when it cannot maintain the current educational obligations it has. Yet Obama made a point when he said, "Study after study shows that the earlier a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road,” If the need is great and government cannot do it, perhaps the churches can help fill the gap. In South Carolina, my state, the state government also has said that we would like to have a universal four year old program, but it cannot do it financially either. On the mission field, churches often fill the gap for schools when the government is not able to meet the obligations it wishes to meet.
Christians should declare God's glory by reaching out to little children with the good news of Christ- teaching them Bible stories and sharing faith with kids who may not get it any other way. I have heard some actually say that we don't need to invest ourselves in children- but wait until they are youth. But the children grow the youth group, and provide the students. For our church- 30% of our new members each year for the last ten years come from our preschool program. The scriptures say "Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it." It is not just talking about parental training, but the role the church has to play- mentally, socially, spiritually.
Prayer: Lord, give me grace to have a heart for the teaching of the next generation about you
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