As I was watching and welcoming the students come back to school last week, I had a little flashback to my years as a student.
I grew up in a home where my parents strongly encouraged me to take every opportunity to learn whilst at school. This desire of my parents came from my dad’s background, where he was forced to leave school around the age of 14. He grew up in a family that had very little and, at the age of 14, had to leave school to earn money to help feed and clothe the rest of the family.
When I was a Primary-aged child, Dad was sponsored by his workplace to go to night school, ultimately enabling him to qualify as an accountant. He didn’t want me to take this route, so he and Mum continued to encourage me to take every opportunity to learn whilst at school. I am so thankful to my parents for this.
Recently, I came across this verse from the New Testament Book of the Bible, Matthew 4:16, which states: “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land… a light has dawned.”
The footnote for this verse stated, “This verse highlights the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on Earth through His preaching and miraculous acts and was able to educate the people and bring spiritual hope and salvation to those who listened and grew in their understanding of living life with and for God.”
Through His ministry on Earth, Jesus was able to bring the light of salvation to all mankind. But one of the enduring benefits of His Kingdom is His light enabling people to learn and be educated!
The word 'university,' for example, came into being for those who believed that God had created the universe; therefore, His ways must be studied and known.
Martin Luther highlighted from the New Testament the priesthood of all believers, not just a select few, to be engaged in faith. In the process, he changed the education system because he believed that every person, no matter their background, needs to be able to read and write so they can study the Bible and learn how to live in a personal relationship with God. This belief of Luther’s ushered in a goal of worldwide literacy for every member of society.
In the USA, for example, the first law to call for universal education was announced in Massachusetts in 1647. The name of this Act, believe it or not, was ‘The Old Deluder Satan Act’! Its wording goes: ‘One chief product of that Old Deluder, Satan, is to keep people from the knowledge of the scriptures, and to this end help learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers.’
This is a lovely concept that everyone should learn: that ignorance is the devil’s tool and that God is the God of truth. This is why, country after country, followers of Jesus have visited and been able to discover new languages. They went to work straight away, trying to capture these languages in written form, developing dictionaries and grammar books to enable people to read and write in order to enable them to access the truth of God’s love for them.
We are blessed today by the energies of those who have gone before, who desired to see universal education. We are blessed that we do not need to fight for the right for everyone to access learning, and to have a school like Heathdale that can help educate young minds and enable them to sit with awe and wonder as they study God’s world in our classrooms.
Education is a gift, and we are humbled by the opportunity we have to partner with our parents as we help to educate their children.
May God continue to bless all our learning endeavours as we move into the 2026 school year.