Learning to serve, passing it on

Acts 13:36 reads “For (King) David after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep…”

We could speak much about King David; however, the above scripture simply tells us that David served his generation.

By serving his generation, David realized he had a responsibility for the betterment of the society into which he was born. He is to be commended for his bravery, his passion for God and for his willingness to repent and to ask God for forgiveness when he sinned and caused pain to those around him.

David was much like many today who serve their own generation and who in many cases serve only themselves rather than considering the generations to come. While it is good to be productive in what makes present life good, we must not stop at simply attaining a comfortable lifestyle. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), Jesus teaches that each of us is to be a “good and faithful servant”. He also teaches that we must be willing to take what we have been given and either to increase it or to leave it in a better condition than when it was received.

Jesus said: “When the Son of Man returns will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18: 8). I believe this statement is a challenge to our generation to do everything we can to mentor the next generation into the things of the Kingdom of God. In some ways, there are so many distractions it’s a wonder there is still a remnant who have remained faithful to their Christian heritage. However, it is not good enough to be satisfied with our personal faithfulness; we also must have a passionate plan to influence the generation following us. When we leave this world, will we have left something behind that will help those coming after us to walk in faith and to pray “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Luke 11: 2b)? I used the phrase “mentor the next generation” because it is not good enough to simply tell those who come after us about the experience they should have.

The apostle Peter warned about putting needless boundaries around new believers. Acts 15:10 says: “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”

Unfortunately, on the other hand, our generation has often suggested that there be no boundaries at all. This was not what Peter was advocating. Peter was saying that lifeless, religious works are useless.

As a Christian, consider what has been life to you.

Is prayer life-giving? What about church attendance? Has reading the Bible been a lifegiving experience for you? What about demonstrating selfless acts of service to others and being loyal to the one true God? These are things into which the next generation must be mentored. This can only happen as we demonstrate how important these things are in our own lives. This means we cannot allow good things to get in the way of the best things that we want to pass on. We must be passionate about these values if we are going to influence those who come after us.

Rich people define themselves by the amount of money they have; wealthy people define themselves by their legacy (that is, by what they pass on).

We may not all be rich but we can all be wealthy.