Articles
Generations
To think of past generations that have come before us can instill a sense of pride, longing, joy and regret. Just as thinking of the generations to come gives one hope or even doubt. The ancient Israelites as well as us today can relate to such feelings as we think of our elders and youngsters; time has changed, but the flaws and fervor of people have not. Which begs the question, what are we to do?
Psalm 78 can help us answer this. This psalm is a reminder of what we as humans struggle with. We tend to put God in a box: we say we know He is Creator of all things and can do anything, yet we challenge Him, questioning whether He can handle our particular situation. The answer is YES! We also as humans have more than enough available distractions and temptations as Psalm 78 points out as well. To combat these problems we as Christians must heed the first section of the psalm; we must encourage and teach the younger members to be hopeful in God and believe with all their might that He truly can do anything!
Remember how we felt the day we got baptized, the sense of pride and zeal to be born anew? We must put that to good use in teaching each other and encouraging one another. Because as 1 Corinthians 12 tells us, we are all one body no matter our background. We all have our part and talent to play in achieving the work the Holy Spirit sets us to do. As seniors that job is described in 1 Timothy 4:10-16. We must have the Word surround us in our lives to guide in both deed and in truth, we must be watchful over each other, and we must practice enacting the Word with as much persistence as we can. If we can do these things, then 3 John 4 will come to pass because there is no greater joy than children obeying God.
As children to our seniors, it is our duty to have zeal for learning from God and our seniors. I haven’t seen better joy in our church than the beaming love after one of us has worshipped our God to the best of their ability during service. And as Philippians 2 shows us when we act out our salvation with fear and admiration for our Lord, that is when we will act in a manner of fulfilling His purpose. And everyday two question we must all ask ourselves are, "Are we fulfilling His purpose?" And, "Are we loving others in the conduct the Lord teaches?"
