DCLM Daily Manna 26 December, 2017 by Pastor Kumuyi - Pass The Baton

Topic: Pass The Baton — Tuesday December 26, 2017.

Text: Judges 2:1-10

Key Verse: "And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?" (Judges 2:2).

The passage introduces us to the distressing life in Israel in the generations that came after Joshua following the settlement of the Israelites in the Promised Land. It was a cycle of sin, judgment and repentance, and then another round of transgression, punishment and remorse.

These cases of recurring apostasy leading to oppression at the hands of their enemies were however not God’s plan because He made this agreement with their patriarch Abraham in Genesis 17:7: "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." While God kept His side of the pact, Israel did not. Rather than destroy the inhabitants and idols of Canaan whom they met there, they retained them. These became a snare unto them, leading them to disobey God, their Redeemer.

The Lord commanded Israel to teach her children and future generations which would occupy Canaan all His statutes. But they did not comply and the consequence was clear: "And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10). A generation guided by the laws of God ought not to depart without passing His word to the next generation.

Christian families must not leave the duty of imparting biblical values in the hands of the society or schools. It is the primary responsibility of believing parents to relentlessly teach their children the ways of God. The home should be their first Church where they learn about the love of God and how to reverence Him. When they see their Christian parents, they will see the love of God radiating in them and be convinced to emulate them.

Thought for the day: Parents are the representatives of God in the family.

Bible Reading in one Year: Proverbs 15-17

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.