God Made the Way

"Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." Exodus 3:10-12

Growing up in the church, many times I have heard mention the call for believers to "come out of the world." What does that truly mean? And what compromises do we make in our lives that stop us from fully experiencing the promises of God? How we raise and educate our kids is no exception to this calling to come out of the world.

I am going to assume that most of you reading this know the story of Moses. God had sent him to deliver His people out from under the oppression of the Egyptians. If you read Exodus 3 carefully, you will notice that God made several promises to Moses. All of them would come out, they would come out with great possessions, and that they would no longer be oppressed by the Egyptians. God wanted them free from the influence of Egypt so that His people could fully worship Him.

Over the next few chapters there are several instances where Pharoah offered Moses a compromise.

• Go worship God, but stay in the land (Ex 8:25)
• Go worship in the wilderness, just not that far (Ex 8:28)
• Only the men can go (Ex 10:11)
• Everyone can go, just leave all the livestock behind (Ex 10:24)

I don't know about you, but if I had just spent over 400 years oppressed in slavery, I would have been very tempted to leave everything behind and scoot out of Egypt as fast as I could. Moses however, did the right thing. He did not compromise.

As a husband and father, I look at this passage and cannot help but think about how my compromises in raising my children can have a generational effect either for good or bad. I also think about how the society and culture I raise my kids in shapes how they view God. How can I expect my kids to grow up to worship God when I pass them over to the pagans for their education?

Why do I homeschool my kids? It is because I do not want to compromise on the promises of God. How can I come out of Egypt to worship God while leaving my children behind? The answer is, I can't! If I want the blessing that comes with obedience to God, I must get my family out from under the influence of Egypt.

There are several studies I have seen estimating that close to two thirds of all kids who are raised in church abandon the faith when they become adults. I believe the reason kids become convinced to leave is they were never convinced to stay.

Most kids spend eight hours a day, five days a week being taught in the public schools that God does not exist. They then proceed to spend less than one hour of time engaging with the parent. As a church, we have forfeited God's blessing by giving our kids to Pharaoh to educate, then wonder why our kids do not grow up to serve God. To be honest, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

As for me, I have committed to make every effort to educate my children. My reason is simple - God gave them to me to raise. It is my responsibility to see to their education. It is my responsibility to set the example of worship for them. It is my responsibility to get them out from under the enslavement of this world. How do I do that? By trusting in the promise of God and holding fast to it.

It was not an easy thing for Moses to stand up to the most powerful government dictator in the world and lead the people out of Egypt. In fact, it was quite difficult. But the good news is, it is quite doable. God does not give us promises that we cannot take hold of. That is why it is important for us to make every effort possible to educate our children. I can tell you that having been homeschooled myself, and homeschooling my own kids, it is worth every sacrifice that I have made to do it. At every step, God made the way for it to be possible.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV