2 TIMOTHY 1:3-5 – I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 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.

THEME OF THE DAY. PASSING DOWN THE FAITH. I was making a hospital visit with my wife to a member of our church. As we approached the entrance to the hospital lobby, I motioned for my wife to go . As she entered, an elderly gentleman arrived at the door from a different angle at the same time as me. I motioned and said, “Please, sir. Go ahead.” He smiled and said, “No, you first.” I responded, “I insist.” He wouldn’t budge so we entered together. As we shared the open door, he said, “This reveals we both had good mothers”. I patted his shoulder and said, “Yes, sir, we did.” A second later, a woman walked up to this elderly man and said, “Hello, father” and she wasn’t addressing him as her dad. He was a priest. I chuckled inwardly as he had no idea, I was a pastor. We both went our ways, but I pondered what he had said about our mothers. His statement implied two sons were taught respect, honor, and deferring to others from our mothers. And, for me, he was right. I was taught those things and more.

In today’s scripture, another young man was taught well by his mother, but not just good manners and virtues. Surely, these, but something far more important. He was taught the faith as it is in the Lord Jesus. And it was passed down from his mother who received it from her mother. This is an important and vital lesson for us – all of us, not just moms and grandmas. This is a responsibility for every Christian in every situation; to pass down the truth as it is in Jesus and to ensure we are “passing the baton” of the gospel to the next generation, but let’s keep it in the context of our families.

Dads, moms, grandfathers and grandmothers, evaluate how well we are doing to ensure the Gospel and the truth of God’s Word has the potential of being alive and well in the next generation through our children and grandchildren. I say, “potential” because we have no power to make our children and grandchildren believe. But we do have the responsibility to have taught and modeled before them God’s truth, His Gospel, and the important place His church has in the family and society. And this we must take seriously. It is estimated 70% of youth leave the church, even the faith, when they are no longer under the roof of their parents. Whether true or not, we must grasp what our children and grandchildren observe from us when it comes to commitment to the Bible, prayer and church will either draw them to all three or drive them away from all three. Parents, if we are not modeling Biblical Christianity daily, we cannot cry out when our children walk away from the church or they show no interest in Christ, His Word and become worldly. They will only be following what they observed.

When it comes to our responsibilities to our families, our first and chief one is to model the faith as it is in Jesus and to ensure we are doing all we can to pass this down to the next generation. A lot is at stake. May God open our eyes to see just what is at stake – the eternal souls of our children and grandchildren as well as the continuance of the Gospel after we have departed this world.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to grasp my responsibility to pass down the faith to the coming generation.”

QUOTE: “Christians must take ownership for passing down the faith and do so with urgency.”