MY CHILDREN AND YOU… FOLLOW HIM!
MY CHILDREN AND YOU… FOLLOW HIM!
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. —I Samuel 8:1-3
One of the greatest joys a parent who follows Jesus can have is to see their own children commit their lives to following Jesus themselves. On the other hand it is a great heartache for a parent who follows Jesus to see their children follow the ways of this world. There are eternal consequences! Such is a concern of a parent for their children, their children’s children and the affect on future genrations that can take place right to the end of this age. Oh, that all my children would follow Jesus and that their children would do the same. Dear Father may this be so through the generations that follow right to the end of time. Yes! May it be so!
In the above passage it is sad to see that Samuel’s sons did not follow in the path of their father in following the Lord. Instead their focus became “the love of money” which “is the root of all kinds of evil” (I Timothy 6:10). Because of his sons focus after “gain” they took bribes and perverted justice. This must have been heat-breaking to Samuel and it was widely known among the nation to the point where the nation did not what his sons to rule, but wanted a king like the other nations. This was a huge turning point for the nation.
Oh, may our children follow Jesus and not have this type of worldly reputation. But how many in our land do have this worldly reputation? Unfortunately way too many and it is obvious in our nation to anyone who has eyes to see. The corruption is tremendous and now things are being done pretty much in the open. Someone said, “Follow the money trail.” Why? Because it is the love of money that is the root of corruption.
Yes, we live in a very corrupt time, but this should not surprise the follower of Jesus. We are not in heaven yet, we are still in the world that we are not to be part of. We are to shine for Jesus while we are here and to do the ambassador work He has given us (I Corinthians 5:18-21), but we are citizens of heaven. Let us keep our focus on the eternal and not the temporal! May we encourage our children and others to also have this focus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QANH8MWuyaE
Dear Father may our children make the choice to follow You all the days of their lives and to serve You all the days of their lives. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. So be it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Sx_U0Ztr8