“PASS IT ON”

     The winter of 1996-1997 was a severe one here in northwest Montana. We had anywhere from 13 to 18 feet of snow (depending on where you lived) and some very cold temperatures. That spring (1997), as the snow melted, we had a lake in our front yard and a creek flowing through the property. We had both ducks and geese coming to enjoy our new water features!  The interesting thing is that every spring since then we have had a pair of Canada geese show up and spend some time in our field where we had the lake. Although it has been 28 years, they continue to come check it out–looking for the water!  Sure enough last week a pair of “honkers” showed up and spent most of the day relaxing in the old “lake bed.”  The lifespan of Canada geese ranges from 10-25 years so it is possible that it is the same geese that came in 1997, but it is more likely that they are descendants of the original pair.  Somehow they pass on the information from generation to generation.  We observe the same thing with the smaller birds that return to our yard each year and to our bird houses and feeders.  They know right where to go. Pretty amazing how our Designer/Creator God has equipped them to pass on information to ensuing generations.

     I guess we could all learn a good lesson from the birds, for we too are to pass on information about God and how to have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ.  In Judaism’s basic confession of faith in Dt. 6:4-9 (often referred to as the Shema, from the first word, “Hear”). it says: “…And these words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up…you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” In other words, you are to teach your children God’s truths and live them out in your home and in public so that they are passed down to the next generation. In Psalm 71, sometimes called “The Senior Citizens’ Psalm,” the unknown aged writer said: “O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; and I still declare Thy wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Thy strength to this generation, Thy power to all who are to come” (vv. 17,18). Then in Psalm 78, Asaph wrote: “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, and keep His commandments” (vv. 5-7).  In Psalm 145, a Psalm of praise of David, he wrote: “Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Thy works to another and shall declare Thy might works” (vv. 3,4).  Solomon too, in his great wisdom, gave this challenge: “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). 

     As believers, it is our responsibility–and privilege–to pass on our faith through instruction and living by example so that it will continue into the next generation, which is to do the same. Obviously that method has worked, because Christianity has not died out, but continues to grow. This past Saturday, we drove to Polson, Montana to attend a memorial service for my brother-in-law, Jim Burton, who passed away in late December. His wife, my sister, Audrey, had passed away in July. It was so encouraging at the service to hear the testimonies of their children and grandchildren of how their lives had been impacted by the teaching and lifestyle of their parents and grandparents.  They all stated how their faithfulness and commitment to Christ continues to influence their lives.  Jim had only one sibling, a brother who was 18 years younger. He also shared his story of how, as a child, teen, and young adult, he had lived in rebellion against God, but that largely due to the example set by Jim and Audrey, and their praying for him, he surrendered his life to Christ and was transformed. Now he and his family (eight children!) are following the Lord. PTL!  

     We are blessed to be a blessing. Don’t fail to pass on what God has done for you. Teach it to the generations to come. Then you can experience the blessing  of which the Apostle John speaks in his third epistle: “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth”  (III Jn. 1:4). 

Forever His,

Pastor Dave N

P.S.  In addition to the encouraging memorial service, we also got to stop in and have lunch with David and Naomi Olson. David (AKA “Oly”) was my best friend in high school and the best man at our wedding. I also got to be the best man at his second wedding (his first wife died of cancer). We had a wonderful time of fellowship and catching up–a bit of a foretaste of heaven!