Recently, I heard a sermon based on Judges 2:6-15. Apparently, the nation of Israel as a whole was having a bad hair day. Well, they were pretty much having a bad-all-around day. They had forsaken the Lord and gone after the Baals and Ashtaroths. In only one generation, they had forgotten everything they had been taught about God and His way of living.

The result was a return to slavery and defeat. The last part of verse 16 is telling of their situation apart from God: “And they were in terrible distress.”

It’s easy for me to look down on these Israelites and wonder how they could have been so blind. Then I realize that they didn’t have the completed Revelation of God written down in Scriptures like I do. I also realized the many times I have forgotten God and fallen back into my own version of slavery and defeat to temptation and sin.

It only takes one generation to forget. That’s why it is so very important that we pass our heritage of faith to the next generation. We can’t assume they will automatically believe because we believe. Just as we were shown the way to eternal life, we must also be as deliberate in pointing the way to them.

Fathers, the best way to raise godly children is to live a godly life, to love your wife sacrificially, to cherish the Words of God, and to tell your children who they are and Whose they are.

Mothers, the same goes for you. Life a quiet, godly life, love your husband above all others, and love God above your husband, living out your faith in front of your children daily.

I would admonish you to remember, as a pastor said today, that the best legacy is not what you leave to them, but in them.

As for me, I would do best to remember that I am also prone to forget and to wander. I am bent toward idolatry of any and every kind. I need God and the gospel every minute of every day to remind me of who I am and Whose I am, lest I fall back into slavery and defeat.

Thank you, God, that You are always faithful to remind Your Children who they are and Whose they are. Help us to live like we belong to You and You only. Thank you for the mercy of a fresh start each and every day. Thank you that not slavery and defeat, but freedom and victory have the final word.

You are God and I’m not. That’s really good news. That means I can stop trying to do Your job and let You do it. I can just focus on doing my part. That’s also really good news.