Food For Our Soul

FOOD FOR OUR SOUL (Psalm 78)
IS YOUR FAITH ONLY FOR YOU OR ALSO FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS?

As I have fewer years in this world than I have lived, a question arises in my heart from Psalm 78. Is my faith just for me or is my faith also for future generations? This Psalm reminds us that our faith in God is not just personal but also generational. How we live today influences what the world will be tomorrow?

It is a generational study in how not to follow your parents' bad examples. The Psalmist painfully recounts the history of God's faithfulness and their parents' rebellion. It calls our children to study the end results of generations who did not prepare their hearts to be faithful to God. With each example, the lesson is made clear --do not share your parents' stubborn and rebellious hearts.

Now that doesn't seem like a very “feel good” lesson. In fact, it not only makes me uneasy, but it also grieves my own heart. No parent is ever a perfect example. I realize all too well that my children know my faults and failures better than anyone. I know I have grieved God in the wasteland. I have tested and pained the Holy One of Israel. I have forgotten His redeeming power, and how He has delivered me from my ancient adversary-- Satan.

But in the face of my own failings, I’ve never forgotten who God is. He is the compassionate God full of grace and mercy. By the Cross of Christ, he has abounded in turning His anger away that I may know His forgiving love. By His abounding love, I turn again and again to my Beloved Jesus to resolve in the power of the Holy Spirit to live anew. This is a great lesson for my children and their children in living by faith in the face of my weaknesses.

My faith is not my own. My faith was born two thousand years ago at the Cross of Christ. And every previous generation has witnessed to me God's abounding love and abundant grace in the face of their faults so that they strengthen me to face my faults by beginning anew. The testimony of those generations strengthens my own resolve to continue to live by faith.

Faith is not just personal but generational. As Peter said, "For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” (Acts 2:38)

There is another truth as well. It's also good for our children to learn how God's grace transformed our old life to new. Andrew Murray wrote "The secret of home rule is self rule, first being ourselves what we want our children to be." By God's grace, we can be what we want our children to be. Let us teach our children what we want them to be not just by our religious observance but by a life transformed by God's power and grace.

A wise soul said, "Children have more need of models than of critics.” If we are to be wise parents, grandparents, even uncles and aunts, or just good neighbors, we will pay attention to this wisdom. We will study our own life to be the model our children need rather than study their lives to be their critics. Let them see the work of Christ's saving grace in your life. Thus, they learn to live by faith in His grace and love.

So, my friends, whatever faults and failures you bring to life, let them not be your final last will and testament. Instead, let faith in the abounding love and abundant grace in Christ lead to a life of faith pointing our children to a better future. Our lives of faith after failure can be our life's best last will and testament of how God's grace helped us to overcome.

Kevin Cauley, Lead Pastor at Darlington Presbyterian Church