Passing the Torch

I'm starting to get older.  My children would say I'm as old as dirt.  I remember when my parents were my age & I thought the same thing.  I don't feel too old to do some things, but I am.  (either by choice or because my body won't do the things it could do when I was a teenager.  total bummer!)  Can this happen in ministry?  Absolutely.

I read a passage from 1 Chronicles this morning I remembered why I love it & I know what God was showing me through it.  (He's so cool that way!!!)  A little info before I post the verse.  David is King of Israel, and he loves the Lord with everything he is.  God Himself said David was a man after His own heart.  (Acts 13:22)  David wanted to build God a beautiful temple to dwell in, but because he was God's warrior, David was not allowed to build the temple.  (1 Chronicles 28:2-3)  What's so cool is that we don't see David complaining; he decides to have everything ready for when his son, Solomon, will build it.  But, before Solomon was crowned as King of Israel, David has these words for him in 1 Chronicles 28:8-10:

"So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.  Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

How awesome is that?  David only mentions one time the building of the temple, all the rest is about following the Lord.  David telling his son to rise to the challenge to be and do everything for the Lord. 

As I get older, this is what I know I'm to do, pass the torch to the younger generations; they are to know they have have been chosen to build God's family, so they should be strong and do the work.  The inheritance is not land or riches but eternal life lived in the shadowless love of the Savior.

So to this next generation:  acknowledge God, serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind.  Seek Him.  Be strong and do the work.  The younger you are when you realize that God has put you here for a reason, the more fulfilled you'll be and His peace will be yours. 

In Him,
~ashley