July 24, 2013
Deuteronomy 11:18-21
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
Indoctrinated! The word brings up negative connotations, like being brainwashed into wrong thinking. But Webster’s New World Dictionary says the definition of indoctrinate is this: “to instruct in doctrines, principles, theories, or beliefs.” Now that does not sound so bad, does it?
Taking the principle of the admonition given to the ancient Israelites, we are to indoctrinate ourselves and our children in the things of the Lord. Here is what it says in Deuteronomy 11:18 through 21:
Therefore you shall lay up these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul,
and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you
sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when
you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on
your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in
the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of
heaven above the earth.
Well, this let’s us off the hook!!! We are only supposed to teach the Word of God to our children (our families) “…when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” In other words, teach them only when you are in your house or outside of your house! Teach them only when you are lying down or when you aren’t! What’s left? We are to indoctrinate our family every day, all the time!!!
Why is this? The world will indoctrinate us if we don’t! Society, bombards us with it’s beliefs and values all the time – through formal schooling, work, play, entertainment (TV, Computers, electronic games, general interaction with others, etc.) For instance, we are educated from kindergarten through graduate school in the ‘scientific fact’ of evolution. What we are not told is that evolution is a theory that has a lot of holes in it!
Another example is the homosexual agenda. We are inundated through education and the media with the ‘fact’ that it is an acceptable alternative lifestyle. But although God loves sinners enough to die for them, He pulls no punches in condemning such sinful actions (see Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:21, 24-27; I Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 5:19-21; II Timothy 3:3) The results of a survey conducted by NORC of the University of Chicago (formerly known as the National Opinion Research Center) were published in the UChicago News in an article called, Americans move dramatically toward acceptance of homosexuality, survey finds. One paragraph states:
The change toward acceptance of homosexuality began in the late 1980s after
years of remaining relatively constant. In 1973, 70 percent of people felt same-
sex relations are “always wrong,” and in 1987, 75 percent held that view. By
2000, however, that number dropped to 54 percent and by 2010 was down to
43.5 percent.
By Indoctrination, society – especially the younger generation – has changed their opinion that homosexuality is wrong. And this stand is moving more and more from opinion to the law of the land!
These are just two examples of how the world will indoctrinate us and our children. As Christians, we are called to indoctrinate ourselves and our families in the Word of God! Every bit of information that enters our mind is to be filtered though the truth of God’s Word!
Did you notice that there is a promise attached to this command?
…that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land
of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven
above the earth.
The Bible says a lot about heaven. And from what it says, heaven is a wonderful place! What God says in Deuteronomy 11:21 is this: If we take this command of God’s seriously – if we try as best we can to indoctrinate ourselves and our families in the Word of God to guide our lives – God will so bless us that our lives here on earth will manifest what we will experience in heaven! I don’t know about you, but I want that!!!