Leaving a Godly Legacy (12/10/12)

Shalom,

 

        Please begin by reading Psalm 78:1-8.

 

            Hallmark, the greeting card company, has provided America with many opportunities to send their cards to friends and loved ones.  Father’s Day is held in June and celebrates their contributions to the family.  We have a perfect example of fatherhood given to us through the imagery of God the Father.  He’s even given us a design and plan to follow to help us do a better job.  If we want to leave a godly legacy to our children, we must start with a foundation in the Word of Yahweh.  If we choose other philosophies or writings, we’ll fall short of what our Creator designed for us to do.

            The Old Testament reveals three simple, yet solid, themes relating to the family and the necessary connection it must have to Yahweh’s Word.  First, our heavenly Father gave us His Word to help us survive in a hostile world.  Psalm 119:105 says, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  The world is a dark place.  We need heavenly light if we’re to navigate safely through the obstacles of this world and its demonic world system.  Spiritual sight will allow us to determine the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, and help us make the decisions which will help guide our families to secure ground.

            If we’re to experience real change in our families, we must admit our sinfulness.  Then we must teach our children how to properly deal with it.  Knowing the truth of the Bible is good, but giving our children practical guidance and direction for staying on Yahweh’s path is better.  I often hear Christians complain about how the Bible can’t be read in public schools.  Are we faithfully reading it in our own homes?  The world doesn’t like Christianity.  All other religions aren’t a problem to the devil and his system.  None of them can redeem anyone from their sin and free souls from bondage.  We must do our parts as parents to ensure our children are equipped with the best information.

            The Bible can’t be a light for our paths if it’s lying on an end table covered with dust.  It doesn’t guide us anywhere when it’s stuck on a shelf out of sight and out of mind.  Knowing the Word will help us and our children overcome sin and give us practical help in becoming disciples of Jesus.  We need spiritual illumination to better understand the Word.  We need the light of the Gospel to shine through us into the hearts and minds of lost people.  We need discernment to avoid sin and evil.  All these pictures and metaphors about the helpfulness of spiritual light should help us understand how necessary it is for us.

 

            Second, Yahweh blesses those who honor and obey His Word.  Psalm 119:2 says, “Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek him with all their heart.”  When we raise our families according to our heavenly Father’s principles of right living, he promises to bless us.  There are plenty of examples of how much Yahweh loves a seeking heart throughout the Bible.  If we desire to please him, obedience is the first step we need to take in being his servant.  Honoring and obeying His Word proves where our allegiance and loyalty is.  Dedicating ourselves to following his principles will help us overcome weakness and doubt.

            Does this mean we’ll never have any problems?  Of course not!  We’re all soldiers fighting battles in enemy territory against a fierce opponent.  Our families often do get hurt or injured in this spiritual battle, but we need to continue on no matter what happens.  If we stay on Yahweh’s path, all will end well eventually.  The blessing doesn’t mean that nothing will ever go wrong, but that we have eternal protection and peace of mind right in the midst of the worst that can happen.  Our vision needs to be toward eternity and the never-ending blessings found there.  If we only focus on this world, we only see temporary things.

 

            Third, Yahweh established the family as His primary way for passing on the truth of His Word from one generation to the next.  We read about this in Psalm 78.  “He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know the commandments, even the children yet to be born and they in turn would tell their children.”  When parents don’t pass on a godly legacy to their children, the entire nation suffers for it.  It’s not just about our kids, but also our grandkids and great-grand-kids.  If we really get it right, it spreads even farther through the generations.

            Leaving a godly legacy means making the choice to obey our Lord and teach our children that this is the best way to live.  We have a silly saying that has become all too pervasive in our society.  “They’ll figure it all out for themselves when they’re old enough.”  That’s a load of baloney (you know, ridiculous and stupid).  We need to teach our children about our Creator and his principles for right living if we want them to follow him for themselves.  We need to give our children as much background in biblical wisdom and understanding as we possibly can.  The world system is going to try hard to convince them that they don’t need Christianity.  If we don’t equip them with real information to deal with this coercion to darkness, we leave them vulnerable to getting bound up in the darkness.

 

            There are five things we need to do to pass along a godly legacy.  They involve knowing, applying, experiencing, embracing, and proclaiming Yahweh’s truth about marriage and family.  It’s a lifelong process of forming our lives, marriages, and families according to the scriptural guidelines.

            Knowing Yahweh’s truth means learning the biblical blueprints for marriage and family.  The biggest problem today is that many Christians don’t know what their Bible teaches about marriage and family.  Many of our problems are rooted in our biblical illiteracy.  John 8:31-32 proclaims to us, “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

            To hold to the teachings of Jesus is to abide in them, to work at continuing in them.  Marriage is between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife.  The two become one in our Lord’s sight and part of their mandate is to have children and continue the work of subduing the earth.  Alternative lifestyles are only socially acceptable, the Bible clearly teaches against them.  Teach this to your children because our society is working hard to allow homosexual marriage and many other perversions as the “new normal.”

            Applying Yahweh’s truth requires putting his principles into action, living out what he’s set forth as truth.  This means measuring our attitudes and actions against the clear teachings of the Bible.  The Bible is very clear, not open for broad interpretations.  It’s not antiquated and out of date.  Our Creator knew exactly what he was doing in putting together his Holy Book.  No imperfect human has a better idea than our perfect God.  No one gets too intelligent to live without the Bible’s standards of righteous living.

            James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”  Don’t give lip service to your heavenly Father.  He’s never allowed that to fool or sway him and he never will.  Putting our faith into action is the certain proof that we mean what we say.  Faith needs to be acted out because it can’t be seen otherwise.

            Experiencing Yahweh’s truth happens as we apply his Word regularly in our homes and families.  Teach your children personal repentance and purity by your lifestyle, not just by telling them.  Teach them about the godly principles of marriage and family.  Don’t just tell them Bible stories.  Studies have shown that if we don’t relate to them how the Bible applies to real life, they’ll eventually walk away from faith.  Let them experience biblical living in their home.  Let them see the consequences of their sin instead of shielding them from its trouble.  Let them see how a man and a woman can love one another with a pure love.

            2 Tim 1:5 says, “I have been reminded about your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded, now lives in you.”  Passing the faith along is the biblical way.  Giving our children real experiences of Christian living and making them live up to biblical standards of right wrong will bless them, not overburden them.

            Embracing and proclaiming Yahweh’s truth actually work best together.  In them we see our convictions take root and emerge as a vital fruit-bearing plant.  When we proclaim our faith publicly we prove that we’ve embraced it privately.  The public proclamation of our faith is a major step toward our achieving spiritual maturity and godliness.  We’re no longer satisfied with mediocrity, we show we want the fullness of a life attached to our Creator.  We become soldiers of truth, vessels of the love and grace freely given to us, part of the transforming work of Jesus and his Gospel.

            Prov 4:4-5 says, “Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live.  Get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget my words or swerve from them.”  If we really love Jesus, publicly sharing our faith shouldn’t be so hard.  If we want others to have what we have in him, we’ll be willing to show them how to meet Jesus.  If we’ve embraced faith in Jesus, proclaiming that faith should come naturally.  Everyone needs the Gospel, so you’re not intruding into their private space by sharing the Gospel.  Your Lord wants them to hear the Gospel, don’t let their annoyance slow you down.

 

            We’re talking about practical living here.  If our heavenly Father already has a plan for our marriages and families, it’s only practical that we follow it.  He’s the Creator and Sustainer of all life.  Why should we presume to know a better way or expect that we can find something more pleasing in the world’s philosophies?  Psychologists don’t know our brains better than the God who created them.  Marriage counselors who don’t use the Bible as their guide can’t help us overcome our spiritual problems.  Trust that the one who ordained marriage also knows how it works best.

            Work at applying what you learn from your Bible reading.  Make it an adventure for your children, something that can help them see its effectiveness in real life.  Deut 6:7 says teaching our children is a 24/7 duty.  “Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”  Take some time out of the rat race, slow down and enjoy your Father’s love.  Show your children how much you appreciate and love them.

            What kind of a legacy will you leave to your children?  Do you know Yahweh’s design and plan for marriage and family?  It’s easy to find and not so hard to implement.

 

            Blessings & Peace,  Mike