After The Death

 Reading the book of Deuteronomy at the end that stalwart patriarch of the faith Moses died. Moses had already made preparations for that day by commissioning Joshua to lead before all Israel. After Moses died, Joshua transitioned into leadership. 

His task was daunting. Lead Israel to finally take possession of the promised land. It was one step of faith after another. There were setbacks. Challenges. One defeat. Alot of battling. Nation by nation and region by region Joshua led Israel to possess the land. 

There were compromises made and some nations were not completely driven out. Much of the land was still not in Israel's total possession. Then Joshua died. Joshua did not make preparations for the next leader to succeed him. There were some elders who kept the same mission Joshua had. As those elders died off the faith of Israel died with them. You do not get too far into the book of Judges before you discover that Israel fell away from the faith. A generation arose who did not even know God. Tragic.

What's the point? Two things. First, we all die. None of us is immortal. People die. Old, young, rich, poor, black and white does not matter. Everyone dies. Is that something you have taken into consideration? You will not live forever, at least not on this earth. What steps have you made to prepare your soul? Have you trusted Jesus to save you and redeem you? Is your testimony up to date serving the Lord? None of us really know for sure when our time will come. It most assuredly will come unless we get raptured first.  We need to be ready. 

The second thing we must consider, is we need to train the people who will take our place. 65 other men pastored the church I serve before me. Chances are someone else will follow me when I am gone. I don't who that person will be. I have given a portion of my ministry in training others God has called.  That is the nature of life. All of us are expendable. Patriarchs and Matriarchs of families die. Other people have to take on those roles. Workers die and have to be replaced. Bosses come and go with new bosses coming behind. Owners die and leave their companies to children or faithful employees. Are you training and preparing anyone to do what you do once you are gone. Nobody does you better than you. There are things you do that needs to be taught to future generations. 

Training future generations to evangelize, to lead, to maintain God honoring marriages and families, to work, to serve the Lord, and other things that are important to you. Prepare the next generation to serve the Lord so that it will not be said of our families, "A generation grew up who did not know the Lord."