CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 900

“Impacting Tomorrow”

Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. (Joel 1:3)

A modern day parable is told about a forestry business that has been family owned for generations. Given the length of time it takes for trees to grow to a size suitable for harvesting, at any point in time the workers are harvesting trees planted by ancestors they may have never met and they are planting seedlings that will be harvested by future generations that they may never meet.

Each generation of workers are part of a lengthy chain that is only as strong as its weakest link. For the family business to remain viable, each generation of workers must act with an understanding that there are generations in the future that depend upon them. Their actions today will impact tomorrow.

In the family forestry business example, if one particular generation gave into the temptation of greed and over harvested the forests, they would leave future generations with insufficient harvest and perhaps cause the business to fail. If any generation were lazy and did not plant enough trees, their sin could also have disastrous effects on future generations.

Our actions today, both good and bad, will impact tomorrow. Sometimes the impact is immediate and within our lifetime. Other times the impact is felt long after we have passed away.

Never underestimate the impact and influence you have on others every day whether it be co-workers, church members, or family members. Especially impressionable are our children. Watch a future generation at play in elementary school and observe some of their learned behaviors. Racism and bigotry can be found. Vulgar hand gestures and words are heard that might even make a sailor blush. Cursing and using the Lord’s Name in vain is common. These are all learned responses, a legacy handed down from one generation to the next.

Are you active in impacting your children’s future or have you abandoned them to the influence of school curriculums, peer pressures, and the entertainment media? “Son of man, I have made you a watchman…” (Ezekiel 3:17)  God will hold us accountable for our actions as well as our inaction.

Examine your daily actions in light of their future impact for the Kingdom of God. Do your actions speak of Christ’s love and presence in you? What legacy will you leave behind? Do your actions lead people to Jesus or push them away? Are you leveling the path for future generations or placing stumbling blocks in their way?

May you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, actively impact tomorrow for yourself and generations to come to the glory of God.