Thursday July 11
Passing On Our Faith
Joshua 15:13-19
13 Now to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a share among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, namely, Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).
14 Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from there: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
15 Then he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir (formerly the name of Debir was Kirjath Sepher).
16 And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife."
17 So Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.
18 Now it was so, when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you wish?"
19 She answered, "Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water." So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
We are looking at seven lessons we can learn from the Joshua 13-21 as we are claiming our inheritance that God has promised us in Christ. So far, we learned that we don’t want to be like the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh that chose their inheritance on the border on the east side of the Jordan River. We don’t want to become borderline believers. The second lesson is found in Joshua 14:6-14. Like Joshua and Caleb, we should be encouraged in our pilgrim journey because no matter how long we must wait our inheritance is still available! We learned our third lesson from Caleb in Joshua 14:6-14. We are never too old to fulfill God will and purpose for our lives.
Today in Joshua 15:13-19, we also learn from Caleb that we have a responsibility to provide and pass on our inheritance and our faith to the next generation. In this passage we meet Othniel who becomes Caleb’s son-in-law, who later became a judge in the land (Judges 3:7-11). Some of Caleb's daring faith obviously rubbed off on Othniel. In verses 18-19, we see how Caleb's faith also touched his daughter Achsah, for she had the faith to ask her father for a field and then for springs of water to irrigate the land. Caleb's example of faith was more valuable to his family than the property he claimed for them.
One of the major causes of the problems we are facing in America today is because several generations, including mine, have allow the “Egyptians”, the pagans and heathen of the land, to raise and educate our children with a godless philosophy because we were too busy working to pay for our mortgages, our new cars and other things we wanted trying to keep up with the “Jones” next door. Instead of taking our children to Sunday school and church on Sundays to learn God’s Word we were too busy taking them to their sporting events.
We were too tired trying to pay for and keeping up with our “things”, that we neglected to have our own devotional time with the Lord, that our children would have seen, and taking the time at dinner and in the evenings to have personal devotions with them. We allowed them to be “baby-sitted” by their electronic devices, television, and social media. As a result, we have raised several generations of young people that don’t know the Lord, or the truths and principles found in His Word.
The “Great Commandment” given in Deuteronomy 6, included teaching God’s Word to our children and grandchildren. Psalm 78:1-8 summarizes this lesson of passing our faith on to the next generation as well as any passage in the Bible. “Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.”
May the Lord forgive us and help us realize the importance of this lesson to faithfully pass on our inheritance and faith to our children!
God bless!
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