Let’s disciple downward to the generations that follow us.
O God, You have taught me from my youth,
And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.
And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come (Psalm 71.17-18).
Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach them to their children,
That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children,
That they should put their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
And not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not faithful to God (Psalm 78.1-8).
It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness (Isaiah 38.19).
Dr Hal Habecker's Comments
As I think about passing on the truth of God to the next two (and perhaps three?) generations, I think of several things.
First, will I press on with setting an example of what it means to walk with and pursue God? When they think of me (as Dad, as Papa, as a friend to an encourager of others), will they see a man/an example of one whose life is dedicated completely to serving Jesus?
Second, will they know me as a man who loves them? Who wants to be with them? Who cares about them? Who is still interested is serving them? As one who still desires to enjoy life with them and celebrate them?
Third, will they know me as a godly man who still has conversations with them about God? Who encourages them to know the Scriptures? Who encourages them to know how much God loves them and how much He has in His heart for them to experience as they walk with Him?
Fourth, will they know me as a man completely saturated and fulfilled with enjoying God? Will they experience in me one whose deepest satisfaction comes from living with Him – and wanting that for them? Will they see an experience that as they may know mw in my final years – not just in health as I know it now – but even in the challenging years that may wait ahead?
My prayer is that these verses might characterize my life – so help me God.
Comments