Isn’t It Grand? Grandparents Day!

This is a very serious mistake, because in some ways, grandparents are as important as fathers and mothers to a child.

Paul wrote to Timothy and he mentioned his grandmother. Look at 2 Timothy 1:5, we read, “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

All the good qualities that Paul found in Timothy, he traced back to his grandmother Lois. But not only can a lot of good qualities that we find in children be traced back to their grandparents, many bad qualities can be traced back to them.

Look at our text, Judges 2:10-11, we read, “…And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD”

Some of the horrendous things we see in our society can be traced back to parents and grandparents who are no longer living, but their evil influence is still living in their children and grandchildren.

During their lifetime they sowed bad seeds, and during our lifetime we are reaping the crop from those bad seeds.

There is not a lot we can do about this generation except to live the Christian life before them and pray for them.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE GENERATIONS? Our children will soon be filling our places in this life.

Illus: We all have heard that old saying, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.” That is true, and we had better never forget it!

When we fail to teach our children that the Lord should be first in their life, we can quickly lose a whole generation MORALLY and SPIRITUALLY. Some fear that we have already lost this generation to sports, entertainment and materialism. These are the gods they SEEK and SERVE.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? When our grandparent came out of the great depression, they had a difficult time surviving. But once they came through this trying time in their lives, they decided their children would not have to suffer the way they suffered. They wanted to give them a life of MATERIAL THINGS, PLEASURES, ENTERTAINMENT, and LUXURY. And they did! They spoiled their children.

They gave them practically anything they wanted. And some thought they were like Noah, so they tried to give them two of everything. They had time for everything but God, and now we are reaping the results.

But what is so sad is that the present generation is making the same mistake that parents and grandparents made in the past. We should learn from mistakes, not duplicate them.

We go through life learning some hard lessons, but when it comes to parenting, it seems like many can never learn from past generations.

To help future generations, look at the instructions God gave to parents and grandparents.

Look at Deuteronomy 6:6-7 we read, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Look at the word “diligently,” this is the Greek word “Shanan,” (Shaw-nan) which means “to point.” As parents and grandparents, we have a duty TO POINT them in the right direction.

Christian parents do not spend enough time talking to their children about the Lord. God’s word says we are to do it:

• When we sit with them

• When we walk with them

• When we lay down with them

Some say, “Preacher, don’t you know children today are smarter than we were when we were children and they do not need all the instructions we had to have?”

Yes, I’ve heard people say that, but I am not sure I believe they are smarter than we were.

Illus: Have you observed that . . .

• Some of these young men seem to have a hard time keeping their trousers up.

• Some of these hair cuts the fellows are wearing are strange. They seem so proud of them, but when I was a teenager, if a barber had cut my hair the way he cut their hair, my parents would have had to beat me to make me go to school.

• Some of these young ladies are not much smarter. They do not have enough sense to know that an ear ring is to be placed in the lobe of the ear, not in their eyelids, tongue, or in their nose.

The reason God still gives children parents and grandparents is because they still need them TO POINT them in the right direction, because they do not know which way to go. When we, as parents and as grandparents, fail to train our children, they will grow up ignorant concerning the things of God.