Today is National Grandparents Day. Let me tell you a story. One day, Grandpa Henry sat in the park with another old man. Henry discovered that his seventy-five-year-old friend had just married a twenty-five-year-old woman. Grandpa Henry was amazed. "Your wife must be beautiful,” he said. "No, not really," replied the older man. Henry listened, saying, "Then she must be a great cook and housekeeper." "No, she is not much for that," said the man." Henry thought and asked, "Then why did you marry her?" The seventy-five-year-old Grandpa yawned and said, "Because she can drive at night."
“National Grandparents Day” originated with Marian McQuade and her husband, Joe. They were residents of Fayette County, West Virginia, and the parents of fifteen children, grandparents of forty, and great-grandparents of eight. In 1973, after a five-year campaign, Mrs. McQuade pushed legislation that Congress passed, proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. September was chosen to honor Grandparents because it symbolized the "autumn years" of life. President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation.
Most Grandparents have a special place in their hearts for their grandchildren. A preacher friend once said, “My grandkids are grand when they come and grand when they go!” Grandparents can identify with Proverbs 17:6 (NKJV), which reads:
Children’s children are the crown of old men,
And the glory of children is their father.
The Bible speaks a great deal about parental and grand-parental responsibilities. Let us consider a few ideas.
Parents (directly) and grandparents (indirectly) are responsible for teaching their children, not the government. According to the Bible, teaching the next generations is crucial for parents and grandparents and is a good beginning place for our discussion. Psalm 145:4 (NKJV) is an important passage and reads:
One generation shall praise Your works to another And shall declare Your mighty acts.
Each generation is to pass on the praise and knowledge of God to the next. The reason is in Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV), where the wise man tells us the starting place for knowledge is fearing/respecting God. It reads:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Ephesians 6:1-5 admonishes fathers to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 speaks of the parental responsibility of repeatedly instructing children about the LORD in all life’s situations.
Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV) instructs parents to, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” While this generally true statement includes the nurture and admonition of the LORD, it also expresses how parents should adapt their teaching to each of their children. Each child learns differently, and parents who know their children best adjust their methods. A child with athletic abilities needs a different approach to learning than a child with artistic acumen.
Titus 2:1-5 (NKJV) speaks to the older men and women (grandparents). Paul wrote:
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
I like the story of the grandmother trying to reinforce some basic instructions for her granddaughter.
Grandma Bessie was at home babysitting her grandchildren. Bessie wondered just how much her three-year-old granddaughter had learned. She picked up a box of Crayons and began a test to see if she had learned her colors yet. She would pull a Crayon out of the box and ask what color it was. Her granddaughter would tell her, and she was always right. Finally, the little girl slid out of the porch swing and headed for the door. Over her shoulder, the little girl said, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"
Our grandchildren may not always understand what we are trying to accomplish, but we train them anyway.
Giving inheritance is a second opportunity for grandparents. Proverbs 13:22 (NKJV) reads:
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
Leaving financial gifts to their children and grandchildren is nice, but there is a more significant inheritance. If we can unlock the presence of the LORD in their lives, we have given them more than silver and gold. If we have God, we have everything. If we do not have God, we have nothing, no matter the size of our bank accounts. Patrick Henry expressed this in his last will and testament. He divided his property among his heirs and spoke of what mattered the most. He wrote:
I have now disposed of all my property to my family; there is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had that, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich, and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor. This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed.
This is one of Paul’s allusions. Romans 8:16-17 (NKJV) reminds us of our eternal inheritance in Christ. He wrote:
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Solomon wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes, which reads like a journal of his experiences. Solomon had more wealth than anyone of that age. He tried everything he could to find joy in his life. Then he tells his life’s greatest deduction:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, NKJV)
As we help train our grandchildren regarding their inheritance with God, we must tell them of the Lord’s long-term faithfulness. He does not give up on us and wants to walk us through life’s rollercoaster journey. Here are a few passages to remind us of His presence and promises so we can experience them and pass them on.
Isaiah 46:4 (NKJV)
Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
Psalm 37:25 (NKJV)
I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
Psalm 128:5-6 (NKJV
5 The LORD bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
6 Yes, may you see your children’s children.
In Genesis 48, Jacob was nearing his death. He took the time to bless Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. We see a third action for grandparents in opportunities to bless our grandchildren in Jacob’s blessing of those two boys.
Like Jacob, we can give our grandchildren a meaningful touch of blessing. Genesis 48:14 (NKJV)
14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Jacob put his hands of blessing on the heads of his grandchildren, Ephraim and Manasseh. We can likewise give a tangible touch to our grandchildren. It could be a hug, a high-five, a fist bump, or just a pat on the back. Some children are more demonstrative than others, and speaking their “love language” is good.
We can follow Jacob’s example by blessing our grandchildren with encouraging words. Genesis 48:15-16 (NKJV):
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said:
“God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
In the presence of his grandchildren, Jacob told Joseph the story of his relationship with God. The story of God’s providence in our personal walk with Him can be dramatic and impactful to our grandchildren. If we tell the story correctly, they will realize they are two generations from God and can have their own walk with Him, just like their grandparents and the heroes of the Bible.
We can, like Jacob, attach high value to the ones we bless. He pictured a remarkable future for them. Genesis 48:20 (NKJV)
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’”
The patriarch held the two boys up to bless and exalt them before his descendants. They would become the standard of blessing when fathers blessed their sons.
A good friend grew up in Abilene, Texas. When he was a boy, a grandfather-like elder in his congregation told him he would be a great minister for the Lord. He told me that statement stuck with him his whole life. He served on the staff of that congregation and later became one of its shepherds. That grandfather figure pictured an impactful future for my friend, and he lived up to it.
All of us hunger for approval and acknowledgment. Our grandchildren are no different. Your words could help propel them to greater heights than you imagine.
We can follow Jacob and actively commit to fulfilling the blessing we spoke. Genesis 48:5 (NKJV):
5 And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Jacob decided to bring these two half-Hebrew boys fully into his family. He adopted them and treated them as his own. He put the family’s resources behind them. While his riches could not compare to Joseph's as second in command of Egypt, Jacob gave them a spiritual heritage and committed to making them successful before God with his blessing.
Grand-parenting is more than fun and games with the grandchildren. It is more than babysitting. It is an opportunity to influence our children’s children with the things of God. It is an occasion to help them see God’s hand in creation and His providence in history, our personal history, and the nation’s. John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail on Saturday evening, April 26, 1777, and stated:
Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.
Like our ancestors, we are paying a high price for our grandchildren when we stand up for the truth against the evil of our times. We hope that the sacrifices we make will always benefit them. That was the same hope of our Founders and Framers.
I read a protest poster with this sentiment. “Every time we comply, we build a jail for our grandchildren.” I am sure you share the sentiment of author Thomas Paine:
"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, so that my child may live in peace."
As grandparents, let us teach our grandchildren, give them an inheritance from the LORD, and bless them with a meaningful touch, up-building words, attaching high value, and actively fulfilling our blessing to them.
You may not be a grandparent, but you can encourage your neighbors’ children or grandchildren to know God. Live an exemplary life of devotion and service. Look for opportunities to teach and maybe brush up on the Crayon colors as you do.
Keep The Light of Actively Passing Faith to the Next Generations Burning!
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