Before my wife and I were blessed with children, we discussed how we wanted to raise our kids – if the Lord blessed us in that way. Of course, the number one thing on our list was to raise them in the Lord, and I hope we are doing a good job at that. I know we fall short sometimes. One of the things that we wanted to do to help us raise them in the Lord was to homeschool our children. I know many that disagree with homeschooling for various reasons, but for my family it is what works best for us.
Recently, I was being asked about their schooling by someone who was curious about how things were going. He was especially curious about math and wanted to know if we were using the new math. If you do not know, that is a touchy subject with some people. I said we were using old math, which we are, but to be totally clear, we also teach the math that is in the textbooks. We spend a great deal of money on our children’s curriculum, and it would be unwise and wasteful to not teach what is provided and expected. My wife and I want our children to have a great education, to be well rounded and to grow up to be faithful in the Lord. If that means that along the way they learn to do some math in a different way than I learned, that is okay, as long as they get the correct answer.
Have you ever thought about the godly mathematics we see in the Bible? Unlike mathematics you see in some school systems, the mathematics in the Bible never changes. There is only one God (Ephesians 4:6). If you are trying to solve or figure that problem or question out, the answer will always be one. He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). This one God provided one way to be saved. Jesus is that one way (John 14:6). When we are baptized into Christ, we call on the name of the Lord and appeal to God to wash our sins away (Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21). Our sins are subtracted and taken away, and when we are saved, Jesus adds those that have obeyed to His church (Acts 2:47; Matthew 16:18). He established one church, one body (Ephesians 4:4; Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-25). His church is to be one body of saved people that is made up of many people (1 Corinthians 12:12). There are not to be divisions among its members. Christ is not divided (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). As individuals, as Christians, we are to work hard to keep the unity in the body and to continue to add to and to grow our faith so we can be pleasing to our God (Ephesians 4:1-3; 2 Peter 1:5-8).
In Scripture, when we look at the church, we see a group of people who had “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). They were being obedient to God, and the church was growing. The number of disciples was multiplying. It even seems that the church was multiplying so fast that a problem arose which had to be solved by faithful men through the help of God. The solution helped the church to grow and multiply even further (Acts 6:1-7). None of this would have been possible without the help of God, Who gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7).
As you can tell, there is a lot of godly mathematics discussed in the Bible. Like God Himself, they never change. Let us continue daily to follow the instructions of Jesus. After all, Jesus is the answer.
