Office of the President
Saddest Story in the Bible
“ And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the
Lord or the work that he had done for Israel”( Judges 2:10).
This is the tragic story of one generation failing to train the next to love and obey God, resulting in their doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and forsaking him. It’ s about a lost generation, and it ranks among the saddest stories in all of Scripture.
We are to fix God’ s words in our hearts and minds and teach them to our children( Deuteronomy 11:9). Unless we take seriously our responsibility to start children off on the way they should go( Proverbs 22:6), the allurements of the world, the flesh, and the devil will pull them toward destructive paths.
Knowing the church of Jesus Christ is only one generation away from extinction, may we make our children our primary disciples. May they see us living compelling, joyful, Christ-centered lives. In our busyness, may we make time to invest in their spiritual nurture.
For our sons and daughters who have wandered from the truth, making poor choices, may we not give up. May we love them, pray for them, and challenge them to return to the right path. May the parable of the prodigal son help us in this, flooding our hearts with hope.
“ One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts”( Psalm 145:4). At One Mission Society, we embrace this responsibility. Some of the exciting ways we’ re doing this are in these pages.
May we not be a part of repeating the sad story of Judges 2. Instead, may we be of a generation who invests well in the next one, helping them know and follow Christ.
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Bob Fetherlin