A Faith Worth Passing Down 2 Timothy 1:3-7

The word “inherit” may bring to mind cash and possessions—or even genetic and personality traits. Yet the Bible talks about something else that can be passed down to the next generation, and it is the most precious thing we have: our faith.

In today’s passage, Paul writes to Timothy about faith worth passing down—namely, that which is based on the truth of God’s Word. It is the confident conviction that God is who He says He is and will do everything He says He will do. The apostle notes that the younger man’s sincere faith did not materialize out of thin air, but in fact was evident in his lineage (v. 5).

There are many ways to hand down a rich legacy of faith to the next generation:

• 1. Share basic biblical principles. Kids must be taught the proper attitude about money (Ps. 24:1), how needs are fulfilled (Phil. 4:19), and direction in life (Pro. 3:5-6).
• 2. Model through lifestyle. How we live—with transparency, peace, and persistence or fear, doubt, and frustration—sends a loud message about whether God can be trusted.
• 3. Serve God by serving others. If we act on our faith, we show it is real (James 2:26).
• 4. Pray and praise. Children won’t forget hearing us speak their names in prayer. And when we praise them for trusting the Lord, they will be motivated to do so again.

Parents should be intentional about passing down faith to their sons and daughters. But even the childless have opportunity to leave this godly legacy to the next generation of believers. Paul nurtured new Christians as a father would his children, and he encourages us to imitate him (1 Cor. 4:14-16).

Being His

My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.

Song of Songs 2:16-17

Surely if there is a happy verse in the Bible it is this—”My beloved is mine, and I am his.” It is so peaceful, so full of assurance, so overflowing with happiness and contentment, that it might well have been written by the same hand that penned the Twenty-third Psalm. Yet though the prospect is very bright and lovely—as fair a scene as earth can display—it is not an entirely sunlit landscape. There is a cloud in the sky, which casts a shadow over the scene. Listen: “Until the day breathes and the shadows flee.”

There is a word, too, about the “cleft mountains,” or “the mountains of division,” and to our love, anything like division is bitterness. Beloved, this may be your present state of mind. You do not doubt your salvation, you know that Christ is yours, but you are not feasting with Him. You understand your vital interest in Him, so that you do not have a shadow of a doubt about being His and of His being yours, but still His left hand is not under your head, nor does His right hand embrace you. A shade of sadness is cast over your heart, perhaps by affliction, certainly by the temporary absence of your Lord, so that even while exclaiming, “I am his,” you are forced to take to your knees and to pray, “Until the day breathes, and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved.”

“Where is He?” asks the soul. And the answer comes, “He grazes among the lilies.” If we would find Christ, we must get into communion with His people, we must come to the ordinances with His saints. Oh, for an evening glimpse of Him! Oh, to eat with Him tonight!