The best legacy for the next generation

Parents like to think about what they can leave for their children when they pass on. Some leave their houses, wealth, jewellery, etc.

My mother-in-law tells us from time to time that what she is going to leave for us are the pots and woks she has bought for my kitchen, and the bowls and plates she has accumulated over the last many years. On top of these, she has a old-fashioned sewing machine that she will never throw away.

For me, besides the house I live, the other most valuable thing I can pass on to my kids is the piano I bought for $6,800/- (excluding bank interest) in my early twenties.

The Bible reminds us that the best thing to pass on to our next generation is the Word of God:

"Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you’ll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth." (Deuteronomy 11:18-21, The Message)

The promises here include long life for the parents, our children's safety and safe dwelling in our homes forever. What else more can we ask for? God is good, all the time!

But before parents can pass it on to their children, parents must have the Word of God in their own hearts. And it must be deeply rooted, not knowing superficially. It has to be ever ready in our hearts, a life of faith living. 

Recently, Deborah and David imitated the way we did our devotions. It reminded me that they caught the example which was set for them to SEE. Before our children can learn to read the Bible regularly, parents have to read it regularly. 

This reminded me of the saying that, "examples are better caught than taught". Indeed, Teaching has its value only when it is more than words.

May this encourage me, and many parents and parents-to-be, to invest more time in the Holy Bible and be doers of the Word..so that we may pass on the only thing on this earth that will truly stand the test of time. 

                  “All people are like grass,
                       and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
                   the grass withers and the flowers fall,
                       but the word of the Lord endures forever..." (1 Peter 1:24-25)