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REFLECTION

“How would posterity know our God?” is the theme for our reflection. Posterity is all future generations of people. The theme means how the future generation will know our God. We shall reflect on the fact that posterity will know our God through our intentional effort in documenting the acts of God in our generation.

Beloved in the Lord, although God has many ways of revealing Himself to a generation of people, we who have encountered Him and have had a relationship with Him must intentionally demonstrate to the posterity or the next generation who God is. After the Lord had miraculously paved a way through the Jordan river for Israelites to cross to the promised Land, He said to Joshua, ““Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight. ” (Joshua 4:2-3) What was the purpose of the 12 stones? We are told, On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God. ” (Joshua 4:19-24) Dear friend in the Lord, God expect us to preserve historical events or mark important days in history to let the generations unborn or posterity connect with Him effortlessly. Christian parents owe the next generation a duty of telling them who God is and what He has done for the family with the intent to shape and develop the faith of the new generation. Church leaders owe the next generation the duty of marking important days in the church’s history to commemorate the mighty works of God in the establishment and sustenance of the Church. Indeed, as a nation, we need to commemorate important days to thank God and to remind ourselves and the next generation who God is and what He has done for us. The next generation must not be burdened with the task of searching for God. They must be blessed with the history of the mighty works of God before their existence and the grace to become beneficiaries of the works of God in the lives of humanity through faith in Jesus Christ.

The history of Thanksgiving in America is inseparable from its Christian roots. From the Pilgrims’ first feast to President Lincoln’s wartime proclamation, Thanksgiving has served as a reminder of God’s providence and a call to national and personal gratitude. Recently, the President of Ghana, President John Mahama, has declared 1st July as National Day of Prayers and Thanksgiving. This is not only an act of gratitude to God but also a way of reminding ourselves and posterity that we owe our existence and success to God as a nation. A family, church or nation that forgets or refuses to commemorate and demonstrate to posterity their history and, more importantly, the immeasurable blessing of God is ungrateful. It is for this reason Moses said to the Israelites while they were on their journey to the promised land, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:4-12) Dear friend, how will posterity know your God? As Christian parents and guardians, are we intentionally investing spiritually into our children and the next generation through Bible studies, prayer and the commemoration of the important days in the Christian calendar? Keeping family pictures of the past and the present also helps posterity to appreciate the glory and grace that have sustained the family. As part of commemorating the goodness and glory of God in our family, church and nation, we can undertake projects that are relevant to society, such as donating to and building for orphanages, building classrooms for deprived areas, supporting refugees and offering support for the less privileged in our communities.

In summary, we have discovered that posterity or the next generation will know our God and have a relationship with Him through our intentional effort in documenting, institutionalising, and commemorating the faithfulness and glory of God in our lives.

PRAYER

May the Holy Spirit empower us to be consistently and deliberately teach our children the ways of God and also commemorate the glory of God in our lives through past and present events so that posterity can effortlessly know and connect with God through faith and experience.