…to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law. – Hebrews 5:14b, Amplified Bible (AMP)

In a recent Sunday School class, our teacher asked a very simple question: “What is the purpose of education?” Several in the class answered the question, but none of the answers were what he was looking for. Then, my sweet bride – who happens to be a teacher – stated, “To teach students how to think.” The teacher paused, walked over to my wife, shook her hand, and let the class know that she was the first person in nearly twenty years that had come up with the answer he was looking for. He went on to say that education’s purpose – to teach students to think – is the answer to the age-old question every student has asked at some point, “Why do I have to take these stinkin’ math classes that I’ll never use in real life?!” Although it very well may be true that we’ll never use geometry, algebra, and calculus in real life, the problem-solving skills we learn by solving such math problems stay with us for a lifetime.

Throughout the Bible, God stresses the importance of education. Verses like 2 Timothy 2:2, Psalm 78:1-8, and Deuteronomy 6:4-15 are prime examples, and Hebrews 5:14b succinctly states God’s purpose for education is to enable us to think through moral questions and choose right, moral answers. Choosing that which pleases God over that which doesn’t is the difference between receiving God’s promised blessings and receiving God’s promised chastisements. If we don’t have the proper education, we won’t think and act the way God would have us to think and act, and pain and suffering will follow.

If you ever needed a reason why daily Bible study is so important, this is it. Without proper, regular exposure to God’s education, the world’s education will take precedence in our minds. Our ability to distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil will be hindered, for the more we think like mankind, the more evil will become good to us, and good will become evil. As Isaiah 5:20 teaches, twisting God’s natural order is the pathway to sorrow, and a proper education from God’s Word will help us from playing an unwise game of Twister.

How often do you soak up God’s education? Whatever your answer is, the right answer for all of us should be, “All of the time.”