PASSING ON THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS

So, two spectacular things happened in my life this week that triggered off this article.

First, I started studying the book of Judges and found an interesting pattern with the children of Israel who would go out of line with God, turn their backs on Him and go on serving other gods and when they do, God also ensured that they were sold out to their enemies who would oppress them for many years until they come back to their senses.

When they return to their senses, they start to cry to God for deliverance and then, He would raise them a Judge who will deliver them from the hands of their enemies. Hmmm… what a stubborn people. 

You know, in all of this mess, something tragic happened in Judges 2:10. A new generation of Israelites that didn’t know God came of age and forgot God completely, as a matter of fact, they never knew Him, neither have they ever heard about Him. 

The question is; “what happened? How could God’s people not know Him? How can a God who had done so much for Israel be forgotten like that? This I believe happened because of a systemic failure on the part of the old generation. 

The old generation who witnessed the parting of the Red Sea, the falling of Manna from heaven, the collapse of the walls of Jericho, the oozing out of water from the rocks and all that, failed to pass on their experiences in God, who God is, what His ways are and so on, to the upcoming generation and the result of it was that people turned their backs on God and the outcome was disastrous.

Secondly, someone sent me a video of believers who refused to deny God and their faith even at the risk of their lives. Some were burnt alive, others had hungry lions unleashed on them. All these happened because they professed Jesus as their Lord and Savior and they refused to deny Him. They paid with their blood and their lives. 

If you’re reading this right now, know this that, this is the faith that was once delivered to our Fathers of faith. This is how they kept it alive for us. This is what they handed down to us. What are you doing with your faith? What does Christianity mean to you? May this faith not die in our days otherwise the blood of our generation and the next generation shall be in our hands. 

These two happenings got me really thinking hard and they drove some points home for me:

First of them is that, if we don’t deliberately begin to pass on the faith that cost our fathers their blood unto the next generation, we would wake up one day to discover that the faith they fought so hard to preserve has been lost. There were Christian nations centuries ago that today lacks even the tiniest trace of Christianity. There are families that served the Lord generations back that today can’t boast of one believer. Before you say that can’t happen to me, let me also say to you emphatically that if you don’t rise up and begin to do something about showing God to your world, all that Jesus died for may just be flushed down the drain and another generation would rise that does not know the Lord.

Secondly, it became abundantly clear to me that each generation owes it as a responsibility to their younger generation to teach them who God is, how far people had worked with Him in the past, what He had done for mankind in the past and so on.

How Do I Then Share the Word?

Could this be your question today? If yes, then I guessed right. Let’s look at some of the things we all need to begin to do as a matter of urgency:

• PRAY. This is where it begins from. There is not much you and I can achieve without prayers. If the dying world will hear you and embrace Jesus, if your words and actions would sow good seeds, if the practical steps you’re taking in passing on the faith of our fathers must yield good fruits, then you must pray.

• Look out for moments to share The Word and make an impact on someone and if those moments are not coming forth, create one.

• DRESS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT. Many people believe that the job of getting the gospel out and attracting people to God’s kingdom is the job of those in the five – fold ministry or the church workers, others have given up on preaching the gospel because according to them, the number of sinners is so huge that they do not even know where to begin, there are yet others who feel less concerned about whether souls are saved or not. This ought not be so. Saving the lost, passing on the gospel that Jesus died for is not just the job for a set of people, far from it! It is the job of every believer. However, it’s a job we must be both spiritually and physically dressed for. Some of the spiritual dresses we need are; love, kindness and exemplifying the very life and teachings of Christ our Lord.

Finally, let your physical dressing share the gospel. Make it an addiction, a style and way of life to always inspire people and turn them towards God and eternity everywhere you find yourself. 

Every enterprise exists to solve a problem and at God the Father Apparel, we exist to help you achieve that goal of sharing God’s Word and that we do through your dressing. We can customize Tees, hoodies, hats, with power words from the Bible. What’s more? When you buy one T-shirt, you get one free. We are committed to this cause, check out our current promotional items here. The next generation must learn about God through us. Is that your commitment too today? We have all you need to help you share God’s Word with your world. Why not head to our store?