Pass It On

From my childhood I have this very nice memory from Bible Camp. I was about 10 years old, sitting around a campfire, near the beach, with oodles of other kids about my age. There was a leader playing the guitar and we were singing. It was so beautiful and moving. I remember getting the goose bumps and wishing that warm and comforting feeling would never end. We were singing... come on, go ahead, you know it, sing along with me:

It Only Takes a Spark

It only takes a spark,
To get a fire going.
And soon all those around,
Can warm up it it's glowing.

Chorus:
That's how it is with God's love,

Once you've experienced it,

It's fresh like spring, you want to sing,

You want to pass it on.

What a wondrous time is Spring
When all the trees are budding.
The birds begin to sing,
The flowers start their blooming.

Chorus

I wish for you my friend
This happiness that I've found
You can depend on Him
It matters not where your bound.

Last chorus

I'll shout it from the mountain tops
I want the world to know
The Lord of Life has come to me
I want to pass it on.

As I re-read these lyrics, I have to giggle, because it is April 18th and all I can see out my window is white snow everywhere. We are in the middle of a snowstorm. All anyone can talk about lately is how much they are tired of all this snow. Well, I've decided not to complain about it. It's hard. I have to bite my tongue sometimes. But God knows what He's doing and He has a good reason for giving us snow in late April. There, I said it.

In our next verse of thanks, the psalmist is making a vow to praise God for His mercy and deliverance once again.

"Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise." Psalm 79:13 ESV

Psalm 79 is Israel's prayer for God's forgiveness and help and for his judgment on the nations that have so cruelly destroyed her, showing utter disgrace for both the Lord and his people. Israel acknowledges that the Lord has used the nations to punish her for her sins, so she pleads for pardon. But she knows too that the nations have acted out of their hostility to and contempt for God and his people; that justifies her plea for God's judgment on them.

To shed some light on the term, "sheep of your pasture" I will lean on Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible: 
   So we thy people, and sheep of thy pasture,.... Who were the people of God, not by creation and providence only, as all men are, being his creatures, and provided for by him; but by special choice, and by covenant grace: and "the sheep of his pasture"; whom he feeds as a shepherd does his flock, provides good pasture for them, and leads them into it.  

The Lord stirred in my spirit the most when I dug into the last part of this verse. The part about "from generation to generation." I just felt this pressing on me to share what God was telling me about the importance of sharing our faith with the next generation. This makes complete sense since I am a mother of four young kids. I have spent the last decade learning more about God, the Bible and how to form a more deep and meaningful relationship with Jesus, my Savior. While learning this for myself, I have also been growing my kids up in the love of Jesus and teaching them about His ways and how to be Christian.

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Or in more modern terms: "Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it."

Great concept right? Thankfully, many children grow up and stay on the straight path of basic obedience to God's laws and principles. However, we are all born into a sinful flesh, we live in a fractured world, therefore temptation is at every turn. I think we've learned this well in following God's chosen people... His children. We are all bound to step off the good straight path from time to time. God is patient and good. He waits and woos us back to His love and protection. Sometimes our slips are momentary, sometimes they last for years, and sometimes, sadly, free-will takes over and self-sufficiency wins and the Lord sheds tears over the lost souls. Each and every time.

Our job is to keep the momentum going. Keep the faith alive and beautiful, as God intended it. Not self-righteous. Not perfect and unachievable. But real, honest, compassionate and caring. Reaching out to those around us in God's love and power. We are not able to do any of His good work on our own strength, but in partnership, relationship with Jesus - our Good Shepherd.

This commentary about "from generation to generation" explains the deeper meaning and importance of keeping God's Word in context and passing in on to the next generation:

   From Barnes' Notes on the Bible:  That is, we will make arrangements that the memory of these gracious acts shall be transmitted to future times; to distant generations. This was done by the permanent record, made in the Scriptures, of these gracious interpositions (or interventions) of God, and by their being carefully preserved by each generation to whom they came. No work has been more faithfully done than that by which the records of God's ancient dealings with his people have been preserved from age to age - that by which the sacred Scriptures have been guarded against error, and handed down from one generation to another.

Pass it on. God's love. His Word. Our stories and testimonies about real life and how knowing Jesus made a difference in our experiences. Today let's thank God for His love and mercy. Let's thank Him for His sovereign power (and the snow in April ;) ). For giving us His love letters (the Bible) to guide us and give us hope for the future. Give Him thanks for teaching us what it means to give thanks.

In a children's book that I recently read called, The Secret of Saying Thanks by Douglas Wood, it was put so well:

"We don't give thanks because we're happy,

We are happy because we give thanks."

Amen to that. Pass it on.

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b