And all of thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. Isaiah 54:13
A disturbing trend these days is the insistence of many schools that any children who are the least bit unruly or active be dosed with Ritalin, a mind-altering drug that destroys initiative and turns the child from a normal vivacious being into a personality-less placid lump. Why? Because it is easier for the staff to deal with peaceful children than with those who speak or move. This is not the type of peaceful children that Isaiah is talking about in today’s text.
Children who are taught of the Lord must first be taught the Word of the Lord. Little children must be read Scriptures as soon as they can listen. Bible stories should be part of their daily intake from the time they are born and every day thereafter. Memorizing Bible verses should be part of their early learning exercises. If they are exposed to the Word of God at an early age, they will learn it, and God Himself will be able to teach them. Children who are taught of God will come to know Him and to at an early age trust in His Son as their Saviour.
Peaceful children are those who have trusted the Saviour and are not filled with conflicts or doubts. ‘And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep their hearts and minds through Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:7). What do we know of peaceful children? Do we support and encourage them in the learning and loving of the Word of God? Do we help them learn memory verses? Do we support the faithful Sunday School teachers who seek to be their guides? Do we bear their names to the Throne of Grace daily? As parents and grandparents, we have a special responsibility for those children who are so near to us by nature’s ties, although we should not limit our exercise for children to our natural heritage. We should have a care and burden for all the children we know and encounter.
There is much we can do to make sure we have peaceful children. –Jim MacIntosh