Let's pass it on

I'm a bit late, but I've made a new goal to post some thoughts to this site more regularly. In fact, as I read through the bible in a year I'd like to put my impression of what I read on here. I'd also love for you to comment and do the same thing. Like I said, I'm a few days late, which means according to our bible reading schedule I'm pretty far along. But I'll share a few thoughts today starting with Noah's son. This is actually a copy of the bulletin article I published this week. Do you know anything about Daniel? David? Jonah? Or Noah? Chances are you do, but why? For most people we learned about those guys pretty early on, which usually means we didn’t read about them – we were taught them. How do you rank your parents, guardian, or teachers on their efforts? Paul recognized that Timothy had been given an “A+” education about biblical history, the 10 Commandments, and many other teachings that were bearing fruit in his life. Paul gives some of the credit to the teachings of his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice (2 Tim 1:5). This really magnifies the impact that we can have on a person’s life (especially our children and grandchildren) if we’ll take the time to talk about God’s word with them. Moses told the Israelites in Deut 6:6-7, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” It must have been nice to hear about God’s mighty acts from Moses himself, who was instrumental in their exodus from slavery and Egypt. Remember that it was also Moses that wrote the first book of the Bible – Genesis. Although he wasn’t there when those events took place he was given help both by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and by the stories passed down thru the ages by people who had known people who had been there. As I was reading in Genesis last week, it came to my attention that Noah’s son most likely could have known Isaac, the promised son to Abraham in his old age. Shem, Noah’s son, was 98 years old when he stepped off the Ark; and approximately every 30+ years one of his sons were producing the next generation. There were 10 generations from Shem to Isaac, and Shem lived 500 years after his son Arpachshad was born. This may not be interesting to you at all, but to me this could have given every generation up to the fulfillment of God’s promise a chance to hear about God’s deliverance from an evil world first-hand. There are a lot of reasons God would have allowed people to live so long before the time of Abraham, but perhaps spreading God’s message was one of them. An eyewitness is always better than hear-sayers; however, as Rom 10:14-15 says, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’” That’s us! You and I may not have been there when God created the world, when he destroyed it with a flood, when he delivered his children from slavery, or when warnings and blessings were given, and we may not have been there when Christ gave the great commission, but we have a book that has been well-preserved that gives us the accounts of those that were there. Pass those teachings on to someone you know. It may be what changes their life… for eternity.