Parent = Teacher

I had someone ask me recently if I was a teacher. I immediately answered, "No!" I don't see myself as a teacher in the slightest. I didn't go to a school for that profession. Yet, in some ways I guess I am a teacher. I have taken on the responsibility to manage the education of my daughter, I do step in with my two cents every now and then. I am able to take the subject matter I am most familiar with and relay that information with primary and secondary sources to back the information with facts. That all falls under teaching syllabi.

This got me thinking, people in general are teachers whether we relate to the description of the word or not. We all have backgrounds, habits, interests, experiences, passions and traditions we follow. We live these day in an out and others can observe, study or listen to these ways and glean information from them.  This should make us think deeply on how we live, what we believe, what we say and do, how we spend our time, what we spend our efforts on etc. Life is too short to convey the wrong message. (Although I've noticed a pattern in my life, irony tends to follow me like a plague and I tend to be misunderstood especially when I try my best to convey truth.) Ahh, the lessons irony can teach!

If you happen to have children, you become an automatic teacher. So, to the person who asked me if I was a teacher, I must re-nig and answer with an emphatic, Yes! And I admit, I can be a good and bad one, if you care, you take the bad moments and use them too.

Parent = Teacher

God tells us teaching His ways to your children is a responsibility that is not to be taken lightly. In fact, you should live it, show it, discuss it, make it your focus, make it your source for life. The only way to find out what God's ways are, is by doing exactly what He tells a parent to do with their child (Duet. 4:10, Duet. 6:7). Talk with Him, get the facts and then walk it yourselves.  It's a circular learning model.

Deuteronomy 11: 8-9. " You shall lay upon these words of mine, in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way and when you lie down and when you rise." OK, since I'm now willing to say I am a teacher, (of a sort) I'll take the first part of this verse to expound on the principle behind the message of 'parent = teacher'.

Verse 8a- Once we've done our homework and actually talked with God about what He requires of us, we need to incorporate what He says into our thoughts, actions and deeds in order to make Him a part of who we are.

Verse8b-To bind His ways on our hands and make them frontlets to our eyes was an allegory to help us understand we need to make them permanent and at the forefront of our thoughts. Something that is a constant in our lives, something we can't live without or go a day without thinking about. God is literally in front of our face and can not be ignored.

Since teachers like to use facts to support or enhance their lessons, I'd like to take a moment and explain Verse8b a little more to help give historical context. Although the principles are real and need  no physical symbol to get the truth across the Israelites did write verses pertaining to God's precepts on slips of parchment paper and called them tephilin; or prayers. They were then rolled in a piece of black calf skin and then placed in a stiffer leather case supported by a thong which was 1 finger in width and 1 cubit long. The case was marked with the Hebrew letter called Shin; the three points of which were considered an emblem of God. The phylactery/frontlet was worn either on the arm or forehead during weekday morning prayer.

The verses written on the parchment paper included: Exodus 13:16, Duet. 6:8, Duet. 11:18, Exodus 13:9)

Many Bible scholars believe this ritual began after the Israelites returned from their exile in Babylon.

Verse 9- When you have made God the center of your life and He tells you His ways and you've applied them to your life and know them to be true because you have experienced the working dynamics of relationship ; talk about it at every opportunity with your children so they too will take the necessary steps to live in the same manner. (No ritual needed).

Parent = Teacher: Applied

In our mutual education endeavor, my daughter and I took the opportunity together to academically discuss different religions and how they compare to following God for part of our History/Geography course. I think she is beginning to understand the circular model of Duet. 11:8-9.  Go ahead and read her latest blog post and see what I mean. Following God Versus Hinduism by Alex Brown.

I truly believe children are a gift from God. If you have a child, take every opportunity to give them back to God! You won't regret it. I certainly don't and have been blessed beyond anything I could have ever imagined following God's command in Duet. 11:8-9.