To Encourage You

1 Timothy 1:5-6 “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.  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

If you are my age, you are likely a grandparent.  Perhaps you’re younger, and a parent but not yet a grandparent.  Or, like Timothy, to whom Paul was writing in the passage above, you’ve not yet reached that point in life.  In any event, to each one of us who calls himself or herself a believer, Paul’s words should be an encouragement to persevere in his or her faith.  As grandparents it is no time to coast along in our faith.  It is critical that we be examples in word and deed to the progeny that God has blessed us with. 

Throughout the Scriptures, particularly in the history of Israel, we find examples of great failure in passing on the faith.  So often a generation that served God was followed by one that did not.  Somewhere along the line the faith had not been passed on. Perhaps it was indifference. Often it was the result of a generation turning their eyes from the God who had blessed them to the things that He had blessed them with.  And isn’t that a very real danger in this blessed country in which we live? With our relative wealth compared to most of the rest of the world we have so many opportunities to go places, do things, and buy things, and in the process to become consumed with all the things that money can buy.  We may be blessed with wonderful opportunities to enjoy vacations with our children and grandchildren. I know I have.  But in all the busyness and pursuit of pleasure, how much time do we spend sharing the truth of the God Who has saved us and Who is to be worshipped alone with the generation that is coming after us?  Can our children and grandchildren say of us that our faith is sincere and that our passion is Christ?  Do we ever talk to them about such things? Are we making the most of the opportunities God is giving us to do so?  And if we are fortunate enough to have parents and grandparents who are (or were) believers, are we taking the influence of that faith on our lives for granted, or are we “fanning into flame” the gifts God has given to us in order that we are serving Him with all that we are? Are we preparing ourselves to one day be ready to pass on that faith to those who will follow us? 

The truth of God: it is something to be passed on to those who come after us. That’s God’s call to each of us from the beginning of creation. It’s the message that Israel was given in these words from Deuteronomy 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” These commands still hold true for the people of God today.  May God help us to be those who are passionate about the God who loved us and gave His Son for us.  And may that passion be evident to those children and grandchildren He was given to us, for it’s so easy to let such things slip, to the detriment to those who are following in our steps.