We who are older remember well the Beatles. One of the popular songs they sang over 40 years ago was “Yellow Submarine.” Well, this article is not about a yellow submarine, but about a big yellow school bus, in fact, a couple of yellow school buses that come into our neighborhood every school morning. I see our neighborhood children congregating together waiting for the bus to come pick them up. In the afternoon those same buses come again into our subdivision to deposit those precious children at various spots along the way. How wonderful that the children have opportunity to be educated so that they can contribute to our society in various ways. There was a time in my parent’s generation that many boys and girls did not have the opportunity to obtain a high school education. Farm children were often kept out of school to work in order to provide food for the family.
In contrast to the school days when the buses run through our neighborhood, it is quite a different sight on Sundays. I see very few automobiles coming by the house with families on their way to Bible classes anywhere. I wonder what percentage of school children attends Bible classes on Sunday at any religious organization. It probably would be discouraging to learn that most children are not taken by their parents to Sunday school. You see, many parents are too involved in the cares of this life to provide an education in the Word of God in either the home or in Bible classes.
The Psalmist declared, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them…” (Psalms 27:3-5). Children are not ours to do with as we so please. They actually belong to God, and He has loaned them to us for a time. It is the responsibility of parents to provide an education in the most important book known to mankind, and that is the Word of God. The apostle Paul placed the responsibility of rearing children in the way of the Lord on the head of the family when he wrote in Ephesians 6:4, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” True and complete education should prepare children not only for a living but rather for life presently and in the world of eternal life.
