PASSING ON THE BATON, NO. 14b - START AT CHILDHOOD continued TEACH THE PRINCIPLE OF THE 'THREE DAY GAP."

The Catholic church has stated: Give me a child for the first five years of his life and he will be mine forever." And again: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." Unfortunately, the majority of Protestant churches have not had the same mindset, but instead have opted to commit their children to the more risky mindset of the secular state system of education.

We all know that the secular public education asks no questions of the teachers' religious beliefs or even of their moral beliefs. As a result we have allowed the most impressionable years of our children's lives to be handed over to who knows who? And to be taught who knows what? As a result we have children with a desire to serve Jesus in their hearts, but their heads are crammed full of humanism and liberalism.

These days, parents are indeed fortunate if any of their children spiritually survive the godless influence both inside and outside the classroom.

THE FOUR COMPROMISES
When Moses wanted to release the children of Israel from the Egyptian bondage Pharaoh sought to get Moses to agree to four different compromises.

1. STAY IN THE LAND (Exodus 8:25-27).
In other words, stay within the boundaries of the Egyptian system. Moses would not give in to this compromise but stated: :We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us." God requires a "THREE DAY GAP."

2. STAY CLOSE TO THE BORDER ((Exodus 8:28).
Pharaoh said, "Ye shall not go very far away." The enemy wants us to stay close to his territory so we can be tempted back in again. But Moses would not give in to anything less than the "THREE DAY GAP"

3. ONLY THE MEN CAN GO (Exodus 10:8-11).
Pharaoh would not allow the whole family to go. But Moses said, "We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go." Today many parents are leaving their children in the Egyptian system. They may be Christian in spirit, but their are Egyptian in their mindset.

4. LEAVE YOUR FLOCKS AND HERDS (Exodus 10:24-26).
This would mean leaving their businesses and all their provision in Egypt. But Moses replied, "Our cattle also shall go with us; THERE SHALL NOT A HOOF BE LEFT BEHIND: for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God."

At that time Egypt was one of the most advanced civilizations of the world and Moses could have been tempted. He had been brought up in Pharaoh's household and experienced the best education Egypt could offer. But the godly teaching of his mother in his early years (perhaps for his first five years) was instilled into his heart as well as the lessons he learned in the wilderness looking after his father-in-law's sheep. His convictions would not allow him to yield to Pharaoh's compromises. He knew that God wanted His people to place the minimum of a "THREE DAY GAP" between them and Egypt.

Sadly, we 21st century Christians have still not learned the lesson for both ourselves and our children. God wants a "THREE DAY GAP" between us and the world.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell