PASSING THE FAITH ON TO THE NEXT GENERATION AND BEYOND

Bible Verse:
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.
Psalm 78.1-7 (NASV)

Devotional:
In Psalm 78, Asaph encourages folks from his generation to continue the tradition of passing on the story of God’s marvelous works of old to the next generation. What better encouragement for us today, as we seek God as we embark on a project impacting not only the current generation of believers, but many generations to come!

I want to highlight a couple of things from this passage. First, in order to have something to pass on to future generations, you yourself have to know “the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.” In ancient Israel, this often referred to His deliverance of the Israelites from the land of Egypt and through 40 years of wilderness wandering, to His bringing them into the land and rescuing them from their enemies.

As a New Testament believer, we can look to His great love for us demonstrated through the sacrifice of His one and only son Jesus, so that we could have a relationship with Him. Those are the broader, faith-community things. But along the way, God did wondrous things for individuals like Ruth and Hannah and Samuel and David and a host of others throughout salvation history. What are the wondrous things that God has done for you? For your family? For our church? It starts with sharing the amazing story of how God rescued you from the kingdom of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of light. Who have you told?

Second, Asaph’s encouragement applies not only to the faith community at large, but it also applies to us as individuals within that faith community. How will I as a father tell my sons about the wondrous things that God has done? How will you as a grandparent pass the faith on to your grandchildren? How will you as a single person praise God to your friends? Your co-workers?

Prayer:
Spend some time today meditating on what wonderful things God has done in your life. If you are one who likes to journal, write them down. Tell a friend. Consider how you will be a part of proclaiming the praises of the Lord to the next generation.

Written by Matt Dumas, our equipping minister. Matt and Wendy have attended Northwest for seven years. They have three children: Life (11), Jack (8) and Luke (4).