A Way for our Children
Seeking God for the next Generation
Ezra 8:21-23 “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.”
This story takes place in the land of Babylon, at a time when Ezra, the kings cup bearer, was about to take a large group of Jewish captives out of babylon and back to the land of Judea, the place they all called home.
I can only imagine the excitement and the nervousness they must have all felt as they sat out on a thousand mile journey back to a land of their own. They were going back not just to an ancient land, but also were remembering its storied history, and resubmitting themselves to the God that they had left as a people many years before.
Verse 21 gives us an idea of just what a big undertaking this was, as all of the people stopped their journey to seek the face of God. The question on their hearts was “Lord what would you have us to do? They needed to know how they ought to live, and what they needed to do. Not just for themselves but also for their little ones. What an immense responsibility it is to have a little one. In a child rests the potential either for great evil or great Good. These parents understood that their lives, their actions and attitudes would have an enormous impact on the next generation. And in this moment they made the dedication that they would follow God to the best of their ability come what may.
It is Gods will for every parent to seek after God, to love God and to show their children the truth of God every single day of their lives. My life is about so much more than me. It is also about those that will come after me. What kind of lives will they lead? What kind of a world will they create? And what can I do as a parent to influence it for the good of those who will come in the next generation?
The salvation of my children is one of the deepest desires of my heart. And I know that to see them living for Christ, I must seek Him fervently myself.
