Jesus Followers by Anne Graham Lotz & Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright

Author:Anne Graham Lotz & Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright [Graham Lotz, Anne & Lotz Wright, Rachel-Ruth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2021-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Timing Is Critical

So many things seem to keep us from consistently walking with God. What have been your obstacles? Weariness? Busyness? Willfulness? Pride? I understand the temptation to walk with a “limp”—up-and-down inconsistency. Maybe you walked with God in the past, but life has crowded in on you to the extent you now realize you are out of step and going in a different direction than He is.

Let me share with you one more facet of the four-by-one-hundred-meter relay race: not only must the winning team run their laps the swiftest and pass the baton the smoothest, but they must also transfer the baton in what is called “the passing zone.”

In the 2016 Olympics, the American men’s relay team was thrilled to finish in third place. Following the race, the team members were taking a victory lap around the track, draped in the American flag, when to their devastating shock, the scoreboard announced that they had been disqualified. The reason? The first runner, Mike Rodgers, had transferred the baton to the second runner, Justin Gatlin, outside the passing zone.7

I’ve wondered whether there is a passing zone as we seek to transfer the Baton of Truth to the next generation. For parents it seems to be when our children are young and living in our homes, under our authority and teaching. It’s the time when you read them bedtime Bible stories, listen to their prayers as you tuck them into bed, take them to Sunday school and church, and play Bible games that teach them the Scriptures in an engaging way. It’s the time when something unexpected and unwanted erupts in your life, and your children witness your trust of the Lord when you don’t understand His ways. It’s the time when they witness your faith lived out during ordinary events, day in and day out. This doesn’t mean that older children can’t receive the Truth, just that it may be harder for us to pass the Baton to them. One purpose of this book is to urge you to walk with God. Starting now, if you aren’t already. Now. While you have the best opportunity to invite your children along.

If you’ve missed that opportunity and now your children are grown and gone, be assured that God can redeem what has been lost. He gave a wonderful promise in Joel 2:25 that He will restore “the years the locusts have eaten.” In other words, He can make up to you the spiritually wasted years of your parenting, if that’s what they were. But don’t waste any more time. As you set the example of witnessing, worshipping, and walking, your children may yet receive the Truth from you. And as you walk, pray that they may receive the Baton from another runner in the race, if not you. In the meantime, ask God to connect you with others outside your home to whom you can pass the Baton.

I continue to be thankful for how Rachel-Ruth seeks to pass the Baton to

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