Generations to Come

I am struck with repeating phrases as I read through the section of the Bible on the Kings of Israel and Judah.  One phrase is he, "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done."  The other phrase on the negative side is he, "did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and his sin which he had caused Israel to commit."

David was far from a perfect father, that may have been one of his weakest areas, but God still used his influence for generations after he was gone.  Jeroboam set a course as a king for the nation of Israel for generations to come; a course of idolatry that they would never recover from and which would eventually be their downfall.  Neither David nor Jeroboam was able to realize in his day how he would influence future generations but they each did.

The same is true of us in our day, we are influencing generations to come in ways we do not now realize.  God can use the positive even in a flawed life.  But in a life that turns from Him, even just a little in the present, the future is drastically altered.  Like an airplane pilot or a boat captain setting a faulty course at the beginning of a journey, the mistakes of the present become actions that set us miles off course in the future.  Our choices are powerful and important, for generations to come.

Sunday we will look again at how Joshua stood in his day to set the course for another generation, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."  Today, with God's help, we can influence a generation yet to come.

For the journey...