Jump Start # 1342

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “The conclusion when all has been heard is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”

Yesterday afternoon I was honored to hold my newest grandchild. She was so tiny and pink and only a few hours into this world. Her little eyes opened, and I looked into them and just smiled. I wondered what her world will be like. Riots in Baltimore, the Supreme Court deciding about same-sex marriage, Iran flexing it’s muscle, Isis stamping out Christians—it’s a scary place anymore. It’s enough to make parents scared today.

But I got to thinking about things. My dad will be ninety this summer. When he was born, a Tennessee court was trying the case of evolution being taught in school. The monkey trial was the introduction of pushing state laws about evolution. When my dad was just a boy, a German by the name of Hitler was amassing a large army and preaching his lopsided propaganda that would lead to a world war. He sought to eliminate the Jewish race. Those were troubling times.

When I was just a boy it was rock ‘n roll, drugs and open sex. The Playboy generation. The ‘tune in, turn on, and drop out’ generation. Civil rights movements led to riots. There were protests against an unpopular war in Vietnam. A president resigned. Those were troubling times.

And here we are now, a new generation is coming on the scene. Some things never change. Lawless people will continue to push the envelope on what is allowed and accepted. Nations rise up and wars take place. Through all of this God’s people continue to serve Him and trust Him. Between my dad’s early days and today there have been many wars, disasters, and dark nights. However, between those same times, God’s people have continued to meet to worship, spread His word and put a stake in the ground for God.

It’s hard to imagine what kind of technology and forms of communication my new granddaughter will be using in twenty years. Things change so fast. But some things never change. We will still need congregations so people can meet and worship together. This is God’s design. We will still need folks to stand up and preach God’s word. We will still need talented and gifted men to lead the people of God in the right direction. God’s word will still be premium among His people. There will always be a need for kindness, generosity, love and hope. There will still be the call for moral character and faith in the one true God. Nothing will replace reading God’s word. Nothing will replace the need to remember a risen Savior. Nothing will replace the precious blood that cleanses us from our sins.

The world changes. My dad’s days may have truly been like Mayberry. Mine never was. My world is different than my grandchildren’s world. TV shows are different. Music is different. Technology is different. Clothing is different. Yet, deep down, man is the same. He hasn’t changed all that much. Society may allow him to be more brazen and bold in his sin, but he remains the same. He still needs God. He still needs direction from above. He still longs for something beyond what we see.

Our verse, written a long, long time ago, sums up where we are. Our world today is so different than Solomon’s. The way we travel, what we do, how we cook our food, the amount of money we make—so different, yet, as our verse declares, the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. This is true in Solomon’s days. It is true in Jesus’ days. It is true in my dad’s days. True in my days and it will remain true in my grandchildren’s days. Some things never change. We will never out grow God. We will never get to the point where we do not need God. We will never do better on our own, without God. That will never happen. God will always and forever be the answer to our problems. God will always be our greatest help. God will always be the right answer.

So, this tells us that we each need to focus upon God. We need to know His word. We need to understand His will. We need to grasp what He expects and wants from each of us. Knowing God and including God has to be our greatest efforts and accomplishments. To live without God is to never really live.

Every generation has had spiritual giants and heroes. Those are the men and women who lived by faith. They made a difference in the lives of others. They walked as they talked. They lived for the Lord. These men and women became the backbones of congregations. They changed family histories. They left a legacy that surpassed their own generation. We live among such people today. They are pointing the way to God. They are ignored by the media. They are viewed as being old fashioned and out of touch, but they are indeed in touch with the God of Heaven and Earth. These spiritual heroes can be found on Sundays worshipping with the people of God. They demonstrate Christ in their lives. The times that they live in have not led to them giving up on God. Bad times and hard times are nothing new to the people of God.  There have been famines in the land. There have been giants on the horizon. There have been fiery furnaces and dens of lions. There have been Egyptians and Babylonians and Romans and yet the people of God have continued to march with their God.

This generation must continue to do so. We will continue to march toward Zion, no matter what the courts declare. We will continue to march no matter what others say. It is to God that we go. It is to God that we believe. Since the days of Abraham, the people of God have looked for that heavenly city. We will continue to look, until someday we are there.

The future is bright when you look into the sweet and innocent eyes of a young baby that you know will be taught the ways of the Lord by her godly parents. That’s the hope. That’s the future. That’s what we are counting on.

Welcome, Miss Eleanor!

Roger