In our last installment on Why Christ Had To Die, we saw that God is the great gift giver; AND, His benevolence is not supremely for our enjoyment–although we absolutely should and do enjoy His gifts. Ultimately, then, all the good* gifts we possess–our personalities, intellect, eye color, skin color, hair color, speech, positions at work, positions in society, etc.–are all a gift from God, and that perspective should cause us to be in a state of perpetually remembering Him. In other words, God gives, and we remember. Thus, we’re humble, we’re grateful, and we’re content, because God is the greatest giver of gifts and knows exactly what we need to honor Him.
This post will focus on another dimension of walking in a state of remembering and honoring God…
“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were…“
Deuteronomy 6:20-21a
Israel was charged by God to not only pass on to the following generations the God-delivering experiences they faced, but also the Law handed to them by God. In essence, they were to walk in a state of remembering all that God had given them (causing them to be dependent, humble, grateful, and content), as well as to pass this information along to the next generation. Thus, each generation would follow this example, and the people of God would continually remember, walk in humility, and remain in a state of dependence and gratitude upon God. The problem, is, however, Israel didn’t pass along these truths and experiences to the next generations. In fact, all of history points to this fact, and this is yet another reason Why Christ Had To Die…
As Christ was preparing His departure from earth to heaven, He stated something so profound, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” In effect, as part of Christ’s coming to earth to save us (because we couldn’t save ourselves), He sent us the Spirit of God. Not only does the Spirit of God regenerate the human soul–therefore enabling broken humans to obey–He also comes alongside the follower of Christ and empowers them to walk in truth.
How Does This Apply To Us Today?
One of the great tragedies within the capacity of humanity is a propensity to forget to effectively teach the next generation. It goes like this, a previous generation faced struggles, and didn’t particularly like the suffering endured. As a result, they–with good intentions–prevent (or attempt to prevent) the proceeding generation from facing similar struggles and suffering. Another scenario goes like this, a preceding generation gets comfortable with their lives that they fought to cultivate, and then they forget to remind the following generation the journey that it took them to get to their present state of ease. This is called generational amnesia, and the consequences are devastating. We know this intuitively. However, while the value of passing wisdom, insight, experience, and truth from one generation to the next may seem obvious and basic, it nevertheless is quite challenging to accomplish. The reason is that humans generally want to eradicate suffering endured, as well as find ways to maintain their state of comfort. The net result is a hamstringing and stymying of the following generations from growing into full maturity.
So what should you do?
- Find someone younger than you…
- Pray to God, and ask Him to raise up someone younger than you to meet with on a regular basis.
- Meet with God–in His Word and prayer–on a regular and consistent basis.
- Find someone older than you…
- Pray for God to bring you an older godly mentor.
- Be humble. Be teachable. Be eager to receive counsel from a godly voice whose life may not be perfect, but is a little farther down the road than yours.
- Maintain a regular and living relationship with God–in His Word and in prayer.
- You can’t give what you don’t possess…
- Even if you’re older than another person, it doesn’t mean you intrinsically have earned to right to provide insight and counsel to the next generation. Many a bad advice has come from that poor assumption. No, you must be able to give away what you possess, and I’m not referring to currency or even time. What I’m referring to is your own personal relationship with God. If you’re an older person not walking closely with God, in His Word, spending time in prayer and seeking His will, the best you can hope for in mentoring the next generation is mere pragmatics. That’s good, and very helpful, but it doesn’t change lives–eternally. The Word of God changes lives, and you must give the biblical insight–combined with your life experiences–to the proceeding generation.
- Does this mean you have to have a seminary degree, be a pastor, elder, or deacon at a church to be qualified? No. It simply means that you meet regularly with God–in His Word and in prayer–and then you meet with others younger than you.
- Let the next generations struggle…
- Struggle produces character. And God sent His Spirit to enable and empower His people in the face of struggle. Therefore, don’t let generations miss the honor of struggling well in the power of the Spirit.
May God raise up following generations who fear Him, walk humbly in His ways, and follow in the footsteps of Christ.