WHAT ARE YOUR CHILDREN CONSUMING?

By REVEREND TONY ZEKVELD

I love my children. I’m sure you do as well. In our home, we had the habit of taking out the trash to bring to the garbage bin, and put by the curb for pick-up.

Our children helped with this. Once in a while, especially when they were younger, they would sometimes take trash into the house. That was a no-no! You don’t bring in smelly, toxic waste!

Many valuable lessons can be learned from this – even from taking out the garbage! What are we allowing our children to see and read from their electronic devices? What are they taking in? Do we know? With what kind of stuff are they feeding their minds and hearts? Is it garbage? If it is, shouldn’t there be that kind of oversight and discipline over our children to make sure the garbage stays out of the house, and even more so, out of the mind?

I recall when I went to school, my parents would ask me about my classes and what I lear-ned. They were genuinely interested. But they also wanted to know if there were things being taught from our teachers, that should be addressed and corrected at home.

I’m thankful they did. They acted upon their belief that God gives children first of all to their parents. They were concerned that we not ‘take in’ garbage. Parents, your children belong to you. There are things being taught in the classroom that you need to be aware of and stay on top of. It’s not all good and we should not assume so.

There are times you may need to pull your children out of the classroom. With respect to the health and physical education curriculum, our government “allows parents to opt their children out of learning any content parents choose not to have their children present for. This is rooted in the belief that parents know best for their children, not the government”. Having our children put out the trash every Thursday morning at the curbside provided many valuable lessons.

We need new hearts and new minds. This God gives in Christ. Christ died to give new life, new hearts and new minds to all who submit to Him in faith. Then we and our children learn, as Jesus says, “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

More on this topic, next month.