“The Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge…but whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers…” (Judges 2:16-19).
People need leaders. Leaders are an important part of society. It is through our leaders that we chart a direction, a course for our lives. Those leaders may be political or spiritual. They may be local or national. They may be personal or family. But we all need leaders who serve as an example and help steer us toward faithfulness to Christ. The problem is that when we lose our leaders we sometimes turn away and forget the Lord and what he has done for us. This is what happened to Israel and it happens to us as well.
Are you confident that after you have died your children and grandchildren will know the Lord and follow him? When your leadership passes, will they take up the mantle that you have laid down and bring Christ to their succeeding generations? If we want the generation after us to know the Lord, we must be sure that we are modeling that kind of relationship with God. It is through our words and our example that the next generation comes to know the Lord.
Memory Verse
“These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
Application
Pray and ask the Lord to never let there be a generation of your family that doesn’t know the Lord. Then live that out in front of them. Be bold and take the initiative with those whom you love, that they will follow the Lord long after you are gone.
