A thought by Christine Caine from her book, Unstoppable: Running the Race You Were Born To Win (p. 111). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
There are so many things that I appreciate about my life. One of the greatest gifts that God gave me was a dad and mom who loved God and shared the fact that God loved me and that he had a plan for my life. Margaret and I have done the same with our kids and our grandkids.
Christine says, “Are you a parent? Consider this: ‘These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.’ Deuteronomy 6:6 – 7
“Nick, the girls, and I take time each day to share with one another all of the great things that God is doing in our own lives and ministry. As our girls learn to see God at work, they will see God’s faithfulness in the past and will learn to trust him with their future. If something comes up at school, we talk about it from Jesus’ perspective. As they participate in loving God’s Word together, speaking to God together, personally interacting with him, praising him, and taking their needs to him, it will all become a natural part of their lives. Even as Nick and I nurture our marriage, we are handing off trust and sacrificial love to each other while modeling it for our girls. The media, educators, and politicians do not have the responsibility to carry the baton of faith to a generation — nor will they. It is our job.”
She goes on, “No matter how fast-paced your life is, you can always find a way to turn the normal, inconsequential moments into eternal moments. Traveling with a coworker on business? Use that time sitting in an airport between flights or during a car ride to share an answer to prayer you’ve experienced. What about a coffee break? Going shopping with a friend? Casually talk about a Bible verse that struck you or a life concern you’ve taken to God in prayer. Make the sharing of life a transfer of spiritual truth."
She says, “I hope you are catching a vision of how all that we do is an opportunity to either carry the baton of faith until we put it in the hands of the next generation or drop the baton so it does not get to them. It is so tempting to make short-term decisions that will result in our own immediate gratification, but in order to fulfill our purpose, we must keep an eternal perspective. Faith is always only one generation from extinction, and we are the ones entrusted with carrying the baton to our generation and handing it off to the next. Let’s determine that we won’t drop it.
Would you determine to not drop your baton? Would you?
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