“One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.” (Psalm 78:4)
By the time you read these words … I will have become a great-grandfather. Our oldest granddaughter Anna gave birth to a precious baby boy. And to quote my own dear mother upon her passage to that blissful time of life, ‘Anything that makes me great I love.’ And this new child, Michael Apollo, will be dearly loved indeed!
There is really nothing quite like the arrival of a new baby into the world and into the hands of the mother, father, grandparents.
When a child is adopted the entire family steps up to show them, we are gifting you with lineage … there is no void in your ancestry. Love has filled every space!
This verse reminds us of the importance of passing on knowledge and wisdom to future generations, specifically concerning God and His attributes, power, presence, and providence. What a most wonderful privilege to encourage future generations to be kind, compassionate, and empathetic towards others, and to stand up for what is right and to do so by living out before their young eyes the way in which they should go.
Throughout the Scriptures emphasis is placed on how setting a trail for our offspring is honorable. Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.”
Only one thing is certain about each generation … they all need to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That being so … ultimately, it is up to each of us to have the right values of a genuine faith and trust in God that establishes our thoughts, actions, words … our decisions!
And then it is up to us to pass on the knowledge and the wisdom that we have gained … in simply living … but more importantly, living a godly and hopeful life reflective of our greatest goal … a home in Heaven with our God for all eternity! We are not able to give to others, specifically in the home, what we do not possess ourselves.
We must never become guilty of just assuming our children and grandchildren and our great-grandchildren will acquire their faith by osmosis! One of our greatest hopes and desires is that our children will continue with the same values that define us as God’s people … and that they will have a deep respect for God’s Book along with a healthy respect for its truths and authority. Do we not pray often that our children will not forget who they are and whose they are!
It has always been a troubling description found in Judges 2:10, “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”
How could this happen? Why was it that one generation failed to tell the next about the God who had so spectacularly rescued their nation from Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land? More importantly, we must ensure we do not become guilty of the same mistake!
What a wonderful blessing to see the young developing into what we pray will be among the future leaders and members of influence, as the “salt of the earth and light of the world.”
“So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come.” (Psalm 71:18)
Bill Fairchild, Jr.
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