Background:

I read my daily Open Windows devotional for April 16, 2012 and was struck by the brevity and power of the message.  This particular devotional was contributed by Marvin Minton, Senior Pastor, Crawford Road Baptist Church, Phenix City, Alabama.   The entire devotion is included here for convenience.  It will take only a couple of minutes to read it.  It will be worth it.  I’ll add my thoughts in the Discussion and Reflection sections below.

The Lost Generation

Devotional Passage:  Judges 2:6-11

Focal Passage: Judges 2:10

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.

My father’s wedding band was too large for me, so I hid it away in a jewelry box.  As time passed, I put on weight, and my own wedding band grew tight.  My wife suggested I wear my dad’s ring until I could get mine resized.  It fit perfectly!

When I looked at that ring, it reminded me I was my father’s son.  I looked, talked, and acted like him.  His values, molded by the Great Depression and World War II, became my values through his influence.  I think he would be proud to have me wear his wedding band.

Joshua’s generation passed away, and their influence for the Lord died out.  The new generation received material benefits from their parents but missed the spiritual connection vital to their continued success.

Everyone in the kingdom of God has a personal spiritual birth certificate, so every upcoming generation is a potentially lost generation.  What can leave our children to remind them of their spiritual heritage?

Father, help me share Your love with the next generation. 

Scripture: (all scripture KJV unless otherwise noted)

Judges 2:6-11 (focus on verse 10) –  ⁶ And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.  ⁷ And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.   ⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.  ⁹ And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.  ¹⁰ 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.  ¹¹ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim.

Discussion:

Judges 2:11 says it all … once Joshua and his generation died the chosen people of God that had been given the Promised Land by Jehovah God “did evil in the sight of the Lord.”  One generation is all that it took for the followers to turn away from God and adopt the religions invented by man.  The perverted generation that followed Joshua completely lost their way … not just in their worship of God, but they lost their way by trusting in life-values that were diametrically opposed to those given by God and taught to them by Moses and Joshua.  They searched for answers in the wrong places with the wrong people and the wrong goals in mind.  They became “The Lost Generation.”  They had completely forgotten what their ancestors had experienced when they turned away from God. Their “lostness“ resulted from direct disobedience of God’s commands.  They intermarried with unGodly foreigners that were not driven out of their land in accordance with God’s specific instruction to their ancestors.  They accepted the religious practices of their mates and surrounding neighbors losing all touch with God Almighty.

There were some who were still seeking to serve God and “do what was right in the sight of the Lord,” but the vast majority of “The Lost Generation” ignored God’s commands.  They lived empty and useless lives serving other gods such as the Baals.  They worshiped idols made with their own hands, not the God of universe that spoke everything into existence (including them). They could have cared less about The Ten Commandments … especially the first two that speak directly about having “no other gods before me” and making and worshipping “graven images” of gods.

What a sad commentary on the times.  But, thank God that there was still a small remnant that continued to seek and serve the one and only true Jehovah God.  

Reflection:

If you have read this far then you can’t miss my point … how different are we?  We live in a world that is lost.  The vast majority of our American people are lost.  So many of our political leadership appear lost as they support popular and self-serving political policies that are directly opposed to God’s Ten Commandments and teachings in the Holy Scripture. My prayer today to the Lord God Almighty went something like this:

“Lord, it appears that we are headed in the same direction as that traveled by The Lost Generation in the days following the death of Moses and Joshua.  I pray that the current generation will not become another Lost Generation because my generation fails to speak up for and teach ‘what is right in the sight of the Lord.’ Empower me to be an instrument of Your will and speak boldly about You in my final years here on earth.  In the wonderful saving name of Jesus, Amen and Amen!!

Perhaps you don’t know how you can be saved and exempt yourself from The Lost Generation.  This link will help you know “How to Become a Christian” by accepting the free gift of salvation offered by Jesus Himself.