August is back to school month. The summer vacation ends and the work of education begins. There is nothing more important in life than education. Scriptures admonish us as Believers to: TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY IN WHICH HE/SHE SHOULD GO AND WHEN OLDER, NOW GROWN, THE CHILD WILL NOT DEPART FROM THOSE RIGHT WAYS. So, the training begins again. From the youngest child in day school, to the oldest in graduate school, and the human being, ever learning and growing, continues to mature. Study, real study, is work, hard work. There is nothing more important than developing the mind, learning how to think, reason, and separate right from wrong. An active, growing, learning mind is the greatest asset any human being can have. A mature mind can make intelligent decisions. The mature mind is hungry for wisdom, and views education, real education, as a lifelong endeavor, always in the process of learning and growing. The human mind, the brain, is a marvelous creation of God Almighty, and, in so many ways, is the finest asset of every human being. It must be protected, nourished, and challenged in so many ways. There can never be an end in the hunt for knowledge. Every human being can and must learn every day, EVERY DAY! There is general education, state and federal sponsored and financed, our public education systems. Public education was once good, qualitative, and worthwhile. The schools, high schools and lower, and colleges, were centers of real education. The job of every teacher and professor was to teach, not lecture, or proselyte, or indoctrinate, much less to attempt to teach the student the critical matters of right and wrong. Real education centered on the 3 Rs, the full essence of the subject at hand, challenging the student to think, question, ask, and grow in the appreciation of the 2 learning process. Classes and teachers were not biased, but rather centers for open dialogue, questioning, and differing points of view. How that has changed in the last several decades. So much of public education is now biased, liberal, woke, concerned more with matters such as DEI, transgenderism, the gay agenda, and more. Real education has taken a back seat, and, consequently, has become corrupted in so many states, and the education process has radically changed. So then, it becomes necessary for any parent to think in terms of alternatives, alternatives to public and state sponsored education. One such excellent alternative is HOMESCHOOLING. Homeschooling is very much on the rise. It is an excellent source of education, in many ways superior to public schools, offering the very same course instruction, but with controls, discipline, motivation, and personal attention 1-1. Wherever possible, it is an excellent alternative to public education. Then there is the private school, generally superior in education, but very expensive. Although desirable in many ways, unless there is scholarship involved, it is generally financially out of reach of most parents. Then there is Christian education, from the very youngest years all the way through the college years. There are excellent Christian educational institutions the country over. Not only are they qualitative in education in every way, but they introduce courses which are God-honoring and encourage and instruct the student in the Christian faith. They train the whole student, mentally, physically, and spiritually in the way in which that student should go, the right way, and, wherever possible, that is almost always the best education alternative. It takes work, time, sacrifice, and desire to study and learn. Scripture tells us that if we study to show ourselves approved unto God and man, that we must become workmen and workwomen, wise in the ways of the world, but even more so in the ways of God Almighty and our Lord. Real education is motivated and fertilized by prayer and prospers with the guidance and motivation of the Holy Spirit. Students are challenged to set goals, have objectives, and, in addition to the basic knowledge of education, understand the CALLING which exists for every child and every student of the Living God. The Bible, Judea/Christian ethics, morality, history, and teachings are priorities and essentials. The training of 3 Christian education and the leading and learning of the Holy Spirit become paramount. At the same time, there is the teaching of American history, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and a respect and love for the greatest country in the history of mankind, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Even as with Christian education, where there is freedom and forgiveness from sin and the devil, so there is an understanding and appreciation of the freedoms of this great country, and the duty of every citizen to protect and defend those freedoms. And more. Perhaps the very best and lasting education occurs in the: HOME. The best teachers of all things are MOTHER AND FATHER. From birth, those two parents begin the training up of the child and, in that process, the child learns the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of knowledge and the fundamental tenants of the Christian faith. Perhaps the greatest parental teachings are not the speech, lecture, or talk of the parent, but the ability of the parent to LISTEN to the son or daughter, to dialogue, to respect, to encourage fellowship, relationship, and love. There is nothing more important or more lasting than a loving family experience, nothing. That is the very center, the heart and soul of real and lasting education. If man and woman become father and mother, then it is their duty to: TRAIN UP THAT CHILD IN THE WAYS OF THE LORD. That training should always be a priority in terms of time, quality, and loving relationship, always. Nothing is more important than education, the right education, NOTHING! The hunger and desire for knowledge and wisdom should be instilled and encouraged in every child, so that, as they grow old, they will not depart from that priority in life, which is to never, never cease to learn and mentally grow. Only then can every child become adult, be: ALL, ALL HE OR SHE CAN BE!
