"And the Israelites served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him—those who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel... After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel." Judges 2:7,10 NLT
As a coach and longtime runner, it blesses me tremendously to pass on things I've learned to help younger runners 'finish the race'. So when one of the youngest members of our running group was preparing to pace his first marathon, I passed down everything I, myself, had learned about pacing (leading runners to finish in a set amount of time). Among the many things I told him were, "Write down your mile splits on a piece of paper, laminate it and tape it to your pacing stick. Keep your pace at all times as it is the runner's job to keep up with you not your job to slow down for them. Make it to the finish line within 90 seconds of your pacing time and not one second later. And most importantly, give God the glory." As I told him these things, passing on my knowledge to the next generation, I envisioned a kind of passing of the baton.
And when it comes to passing the baton, consider that believers have been commanded from the beginning to pass down their knowledge of God to the next generation that they might walk also walk faithfully with the Lord. And also consider the immense repercussions of one generation failing to do that as described in the book of Judges, "the Israelites served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua... After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord." They had failed to pass the baton and had suffered the consequences of their actions!
So may you and I be diligent in passing down our love, knowledge and passion for the Lord that the next generation might take hold of it and, one day, pass the baton themselves. After all, life is a relay race in which we all have our turn. Don't drop the baton my friend.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that it is the job of every Christian to teach the next generation about You. May we take that command so seriously that we would continuously sing your praises and tell others about You and the things we have learned by studying the Word at every opportunity. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
I will sing of my Redeemer - Selah
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