My
Pastor spoke about this yesterday morning. If you think about the
difference from your grandfathers generation to your dads generation and
now to our generation...it is a sad state when we think about spiritual
things and morals. Look at these verses:
Judges 2:6-13
6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.
7 So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. 8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.
11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
A couple of things here I want to point out:
1. V.7 tells us Joshua and his generation followed the Lord.
2. V.10 tells us that the next generation did not know the Lord or what He had done for Israel! Something is very wrong here. It tells me that Joshua and his generation may have been faithful but they did not a very good job of passing along the Lord to the next generation. Let me be clear here that we have a job to do with the next generation. This is the most important job we have! This job is to train our children in the Lord! Ask yourself...how are you doing in this training right now?
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
It is not the churches job, they are to help you but the main responsibility is yours!
3. V.11-13 tells us what happens when our children do not get the training from us!
Brothers and sisters look at society, look at our schools, colleges, even our declining churches...what are we doing? Failing God! Failing ourselves. Failing our children. Don't compare to everyone else, do what God wants you to do, train your children and yourselves in the Lord!
Tom
Judges 2:6-13
6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.
7 So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. 8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.
11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
A couple of things here I want to point out:
1. V.7 tells us Joshua and his generation followed the Lord.
2. V.10 tells us that the next generation did not know the Lord or what He had done for Israel! Something is very wrong here. It tells me that Joshua and his generation may have been faithful but they did not a very good job of passing along the Lord to the next generation. Let me be clear here that we have a job to do with the next generation. This is the most important job we have! This job is to train our children in the Lord! Ask yourself...how are you doing in this training right now?
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
It is not the churches job, they are to help you but the main responsibility is yours!
3. V.11-13 tells us what happens when our children do not get the training from us!
Brothers and sisters look at society, look at our schools, colleges, even our declining churches...what are we doing? Failing God! Failing ourselves. Failing our children. Don't compare to everyone else, do what God wants you to do, train your children and yourselves in the Lord!
Tom
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