Passing On The Message Of Faith

I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised.
–Genesis 50:24

Whenever we talk about the story of Abraham and Isaac, we focus on the remarkable faith of Abraham. But let’s look at the story from Isaac’s perspective. At this point, Isaac was a young man. He could have resisted and crawled off that altar, but he willingly submitted to his father’s will. Why? Because Abraham had passed on his faith to his son. Abraham had told Isaac the miraculous stories of how God called him out of Ur, how He protected Sarah from Abimelech even after Abraham had sinned, and how He brought them to the promised land. Hearing those stories of faith assured Isaac that he, too, could trust in God to fulfill His promises.

The message of faith did not stop with Isaac. Each generation passed it on to the next, even after the family relocated to Egypt. Hebrews 11:22 says, “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.” Before he died, Joseph reminded his family of God’s promise to lead an exodus out of Egypt. And he told them, in essence, “God will take care of you. And when it is time to go, dig me up and take my bones with you because I want to go to the promised land.”

My parents taught me a lot of lessons in life, but I will never forget their final words to me: “Be faithful to your calling. Follow God with all your heart.” The words they spoke as they were dying were lasting words in my life.

Joseph’s final words were lasting ones as well. Four hundred years later, God chose Moses to lead the exodus. Exodus 13:19 says, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.’” Obviously, Moses had never met Joseph, much less Jacob, Isaac, or Abraham. How did he know about the command Joseph had given? It was because every parent had passed on to his children and grandchildren the truth that you can trust in God. They had passed on their faith from generation to generation.

The laboratory of faith is the home, and the legacy of our faith is our children and grandchildren. Model faith to them by telling stories they will remember–stories about how God led you to your mate, how He gave you direction when you were confused, and how He supernaturally provided for you. Pass on stories they will remember about how God can be trusted to do what He has promised to do.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “A Legacy Of Faith” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2020.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org