A Multi-generational Vision

 
Being in the catering industry, I have the opportunity to watch a lot of different types of people- to observe, listen & learn from their words, actions, mistakes, decisions etc. It's a very interesting field of work to be in... Gives me a lot to think about.

For example, I catered a small family dinner earlier this week. Just the family pulling together in a time of crisis. The grandmother was telling me about her eleven children, forty grandchildren & six great-grandchildren. She & her husband are in their late sixties/early seventies, I would assume. Their children in their thirties & forties. Grandchildren in their teens & twenties. Young great-grandchildren. You get the idea.

As we were talking, I was amazed- this is what it looks like! The practical side of the Vision, having it play out in real life! This is it! Having lots of children while you're young, seeing them grow up & have children of their own, being able to instruct your grandchildren & still having many years left when your great-grandchildren are born! This family must be doing it right!

But, as she continued on, I came to realize that they lacked one vital thing- a multi-generational vision. They didn't have all of the puzzle pieces. You see, the idea of having a lot of children & spending time together died in her children. You see, they are all spread out all over the country, living isolated in several states.

"Great!" you might say, "They now can impact world & react the nations for Christ!" Wrong. God is a covenantal God. He works through families. I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 4:7-12-

"Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother...

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up^.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken..."

 If two can defend themselves & a cord of three is not easily broken, think of the impact of five, ten, twenty, fifty, seventy five, one hundred, one thousand family members working together!

This Grandmother was telling me how she'd only met this grandchild once, or how she hasn't seen that one in several years... Hearing her children in conversation with each other, they were more concerned with wealth, money, strong drink etc than on building up their families. Although the Grandmother professed to be a Christian, I saw little evidences of that character trait in the lives of her children & even less in the lives of her grandchildren.

To me, that is a shame. She has failed at her task. Her children have forgotten the Lord & have abandoned the Covenant. May they repent & return while the Lord yet has mercy on them!

And may this stand as a warning to us. Let us not get caught up in worldly things & forget the Lord. May we ever strive to remember the Promises He has made to us. May we walk in His Law & honor His statutes. May we intentionally raise our children in these things. May His Word ever be on their tongues. May we teach them diligently when we rise up, when we walk about the way & when we lie down (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). May we pass on the Vision & leave a godly legacy for many generations to come. Then we shall be blessed.

"Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
 things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.

He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
& arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
and that they should not be like their fathers,
     a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God..."

- Psalm 78:1-8