"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." (Deut. 6:6-7)

British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once had a discussion with a man who firmly believed that children should not be given formal religious instruction, but should be free to choose their own religious faith when they reached maturity. Coleridge later invited the man into his somewhat neglected garden. "Do you call this a garden?" the visitor exclaimed. "There are nothing but weeds here!" "Well, you see," Coleridge replied, "I did not wish to infringe upon the liberty of the garden in any way. I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself." Obviously, Coleridge's guest believed any religion would do just fine. Millions of people today would agree with him. Sadly, the product of such thinking is spiritual "weeds." (From Bible Illustrator)

Eph. 6:4 says, "Father do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (NASV)