The goal of testing is to ascertain knowledge. Therefore, the most important test, in my opinion, is the testing of the heart. Do our children know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy is understanding? Do we? Just as we test the basics in our children, the Lord tests the hearts. He knows we are easily deceived by our own thoughts and good ideas. Our ways seem right to us, but the end of them is futility. Let's look at verses 5-11 of the 17th chapter of Jeremiah in this light.

"Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes..."

When we trust in our own wisdom or the wisdom of man in relation to our children, and if we think our own strength can accomplish the task, we are deceived and our hearts have departed from the Lord. We will not be able to see when "good comes."

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Success in our homeschooling efforts will come by trusting in the Lord. If we teach our children that their hope is the Lord, they will be grounded in truth, prepared for the future, and unafraid. During times of seeming drought or when the "heat comes" they will not be anxious. This is an exemplary goal for the future I desire for my children.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. "As a partridge that broods but does not hatch, So is he who gets riches, but not by right; It will leave him in the midst of his days, And at his end he will be a fool."

We are easily deceived. And it starts in our hearts. May we not just sit and brood over our children for no eternal reason and produce nothing of value, but may we pray that the Lord will produce good fruit in them as we faithfully teach, train and test them.  In the end, I do not want to be played the fool. I want to have known the Truth and I want my children to have learned the basics from me. And in the end, may they pass the test. 

Jeremiah 10:23 "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps."

Copyright, 2004.  The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Deborah Wuehler is the Devotional and E-Newsletter editor for  The Old Schoolhouse and lives in Roseville, CA with her husband Richard and their six gifts from heaven. E-mail Deborah with your comments at Devotions@TOSMag.com