Passing the Faith Along

745 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ki 2:3,4, "And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4 "that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' (1 Kings 2:2-4) David is on his death bed, speaking to his son Solomon and he seeks to remind him of the importance of living in accordance with the Word of God. If Solomon will treasure God's Word in this life, he will prosper. Then he reminds Solomon to pass the same advice on to his sons, and of course this would mean that they would in turn pass it on to their sons. The advice and associated promise holds true for all. Of course we know that even as this advice was handed down, it wasn't always followed and this resulted in spiritual decay in the land and in the personal lives of the offspring of David and Solomon. It got so bad that the nation actually split immediately after Solomon's reign into two kingdoms: The Northern kingdom and the Southern kingdom, and both were eventually run over by the Assyrians and the Persians. The northern kingdom was carried off in captivity by the Assyrians and dispersed, ceasing to exist even to this day, and the southern kingdom was conquered by the Babylonians, and by the grace of God was restored after a 70 year captivity. This is the lot of nations who fail to pass on this truth to their sons. Fathers, mothers, listen to me. If you think your talk with your sons and daughters about the birds and the bees is important, it pales in comparison to this talk! Tell your children about the importance of walking with the Lord, and the promise of prosperity that goes with it. This talk in and of itself covers the birds and the bees and all other things! And if they listen, they will enjoy a prosperous life. But let's not just talk about it, let's live it out before their eyes. Pass this godly heritage on to your children. It's the best gift you can give them. Right now, it seems the only ones doing the talking are the godless institutions in the land, and unfortunately many of our children are listening. Father give us a sense of urgency in living our faith out before our children, pointing them to jesus in word and deed!