LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Sunday 23rd October 2022
A GENERATIONAL TESTIMONY
Scripture Reading: Exodus 12
And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Exodus 12:26–27
Celebrating the Passover was a binding requirement for all generations into the future, including everyone who would occupy the land of Canaan. The exodus from Egypt was a generational testimony that Israel had to preserve. There is a natural tendency for human beings to forget; so God constantly impressed upon Israel to remember the important events in their lives. The generation that experienced the Passover had to ensure that succeeding generations would never forget the significance of their history.
• Parents have the responsibility to teach their children about their faith. The instruction was to teach the upcoming generation about the Passover. Every parent was expected to teach their children the meaning of the ceremony that memorialized the deliverance from Egypt.
In the same vein, it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children about their faith. While we appreciate the ministry of children’s service teachers at church, parents must ensure that they help their children to know the Lord. Our lives at home must reflect the word we hear in church. Only genuine faith can be passed on from one generation to the other.
• We must propagate the gospel across generations. Every generation of believers must hold the message of the gospel in trust for the next generation. We must be committed to sharing our faith in Christ, what He came to accomplish for humanity and our testimony of what He has done in our own lives. If we fail to carry out this responsibility, we will end up raising a generation that will never know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. The message of Christ is transgenerational. It must be experienced and passed on from one generation unto the next.
Our world is becoming increasingly secular, the number of emerging young adults that are not saved and remain unchurched keeps rising. God is calling on us to ensure that we pass our faith to the next generation.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to pass on my faith to my children and the generations after me. In Jesus name, Amen.