I am in a season of life that is very family focused. As a father, the joy I feel watching my children become adults with their own talents, passions, and lives ahead of them is hard to explain. I may be more excited for them than I was for myself at that stage of life. Their success is my success. The same is true of their failures. My mind turns to the legacy of what will remain once I am gone. Yet all of that excitement pales in comparison to the only legacy that matters: the legacy of faith.
Faith Across Generations
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 2 Timothy 1:5 ESV
Paul writes to Timothy, the one who will carry on after him, with the tone of a father. He dwells on the faith Timothy has demonstrated. That faith in God began with his grandmother. Paul reflects on the faith of multiple generations that brought Timothy into such an important role. How many generations of the faithful are there in my family? The same question applies to my wife’s family. I think about this and I think about the grace God brings to our own children.
There is a contemporary song called The Blessing. The bridge sings, “May His favor be upon you, and a thousand generations, and your family and your children, and their children, and their children.” This moves me deeply, the thought that God would be glorified for generations until He returns.
My Grandmother’s Faith
When I was eleven my grandmother passed away. As a direct result of her death I heard God calling me and saving me. In many ways I attribute her faith as the foundation of my own saving faith. I was young and I do not know much about her faith other than that she raised my mother in the church and I was raised in the church. I like to think that I carry the faith forward from generations of those who loved their Maker. And I pray that through my children there will be more generations of men and women who love Him.
Two Paths
There are two paths each of us must take. One where we raise our children in the Lord and one where we raise them in the world.
When Moses passes leadership to Joshua to take the promised land, Joshua tells the people that he and his household will serve the Lord. Joshua remembers all that happened in the Exodus out of Egypt and in the wilderness. Joshua lives to see the promised land occupied. He knows what God will do. Yet the Bible tells us a shocking fact after Joshua dies.
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. Judges 2:10 ESV
Everyone forgot. The line of faith was broken. The next generation had no memory of what God had done. They had no new memories of what God can do. And they worshiped everything but God.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. Psalms 103:17-18 ESV
They failed to follow His covenant and they did not remember His commandments. That is the tragedy of the worldly path. But there is another way: the way of faith from generation to generation. It is not easy and it requires a choice to seek God first.
The Road Less Traveled
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. Psalms 78:4 ESV
The second road, the one less traveled, is the one where we tell our children about the faith God has placed in us. I tell my children what God has done for me. I show my children that God’s glory is the priority by setting our lives around church and the things of God.
This second road starts with a life built around the Church. Sunday is coming and Jesus wants you and your family to be part of His flock.
