Wisdom for living: Preserving the next generation

By Tope Banso.
“After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10 New Living Translation).
The tragedy of the scripture above is that after Joshua, the servant of God, died at 110 years, the worship of the true God ceased in Israel with the passing away of the generation Joshua served.
The generation after that generation “did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10 New King James Version). It was either they were not taught or they rejected instructions. Whichever way, it’s a sad commentary.
God is concerned about generations after you. He is interested in you, your children, your children’s children, etc. A family, a nation, a society should also be concerned about the next generation and generations after.
That is why God talks severally in the Bible about descendants, seeds, generations, etc. For instance, the covenant God cut with Abraham was not for Abraham alone but also for his descendants (Genesis 17:7-9, 1 Chronicles 16:15-18).
There are many scriptures that talk about permanent laws that must be observed by Aaron and his sons or all Israelites from generation to generation. These include Exodus 27:21, 30:21, Leviticus 3:17, 6:18, 7:36, 10:9, 17:7, 23:14, 21, 31,41.
God wants you to teach your children, using every opportunity you have especially being a godly model for them. Godly values must not end with you; they must be transferred to your children and be perpetuated in your family from generation to generation.
God wants children to carry on His blessing that’s on their parents but they’Il need to obey the God of their fathers (parents). Jacob talked about the God of his father being with him (Genesis 31:5, 42). Moses named one of his two sons, Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exodus 18:4 American Standard Version).
If you’re born again, your God should become the God of your children and descendants. It is godly family values that will guide the children in the righteous direction that their fathers’ followed. And parents have a great role to play in both the cultivation of godly family values and transmission of same to their children.
In Psalm 71:18, the psalmist says, “Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me” (New Living Translation). Share with your children personal testimonies of God’s faithfulness, mercy, power, etc. Build their trust in the Living God.
It’s good that you’ve accepted Jesus as your Saviour and Lord (If you’ve not, please give your life to Jesus now, by acknowledging the sacrifice God made with His Son, who died and rose from the dead), but have your children also come into a personal relationship with Jesus? Are you training them in the way of the Lord so that when they’re old, they’ll not depart from it? (Proverbs 22:6).
PRAYER POINT: My children and coming generations shall serve Jesus, not the devil, all the days of their lives.
(For more inspiring messages, visit: www.cedarministry.org).
●●Banso, an Abuja-based minister can be reached via Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria, cedarministryintl@yahoo.com, cedarministryng@gmail.com
Tel No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
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