The spiritual landscape I grew up in has changed.
In recent years, the fathers I knew growing up seem to be gone and the few remaining seem to have grown quiet or somewhat in the background.
Maybe it is the news of Dr. Jerry Savelle passing on to Heaven yesterday 14th of April 2024 that made me feel nostalgic, but as I wrote those opening lines, the Spirit of God corrected me. He said that the landscape had not changed. The issue is our (my) minds still attach those who have served and have done their time to those positions of leadership in the Kingdom. However the Bible records leaders such as King David who passed the throne to Solomon his son while still alive. Though YHWH, the people and leaders still acknowledged David the father, the post was now Solomon's. David had done his time and his reward was waiting for him.
The throne, the office of the priests and the High priest (i.e. the positions and posts of authority in the Kingdom), do not change - they are everlasting, but the post holders do change and have changed.
Quite the opposite to disrespecting or diminishing elderly post-holders, a successor on the throne while the Father is still alive is a mark of blessing and glory from the Lord.
''Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed and said, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.'' 1 Kings 1:46 -48
The beauty is that the new post holders have present with them the mature wisdom and guidance of their Fathers as they find their feet and take the reigns. The confidence this instills in the successors cannot be quantified. It ensures a seamless transition, which maintains the stability in the Kingdom. This stability in turn is great fuel for growth and a great base for exponential progression in the national vision.
''When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.
“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’''1 Kings 2: 1-4
''So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.'' 1 Kings 2: 12
We must be Kingdom minded. In God's eyes, the baton has passed from the fathers to my generation. We are the generation that will be held accountable for the fulfilment of the great commission in our time. We are the generation to display the virtues of our God to this current generation. We are the generation to prepare God's people for his coming. It is time we see ourselves as YHWH sees us. It is time to stop passing the responsibility to others. It is time to take our place and be the difference. It is time to move God's Kingdom forward.
Will we do better than our fathers?
Or will we be just the same or worse- causing the Kingdom to shrink in growth, virtue and power?
I don't know about you, but every father's death means something to me. What can we do to leave a legacy of faith for the next generation? What can we do to empower those coming after us to think higher and do even greater? What will they say about our example?
I know YHWH's grace is available to us for this dispensation. I pray by his grace, we recognise it and take advantage of it to the benefit of our world. Amen
''Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. But
those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.'' Deuteronomy 7:9-10
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