Grandparent’s Day is a wonderful thing to celebrate. I know it is an idea that probably originated by Hallmark in order to sell more greeting cards, but it is a wonderful thing to celebrate none the less. We see the importance of grandparents in our text today as we look at
II Timothy 1:1-5, and most of us in this room can attest to the significance of grandparents in our own lives personally. I realize some were not blessed with godly or good grandparents, but all of us should seek to be the godly and good influence God wants us to be on the generations coming behind us. One of Ronald Reagan’s greatest speeches was his 1967 inaugural speech for governor of California, in which he accurately declared that freedom is always “one generation from extinction” and that has been proven many times and has come close even in our nation. Truitt Cathy, the founder of the restaurant chain Chick-Fil A, has been credited with saying that the “evidence of the success of our parenting is not in how our children turn out, but rather how our grandchildren turn out.” This is the essence of God’s plan for the success of a society spiritually and in every other way. Each generation must raise up the next generation in such a way that they will raise up the next generation to do well in every facet of life. Our goal is not to merely rear up good children. Our goal in parenting and as grandparents needs to be far more reaching than just the children coming up. Children need parents and grandparents influencing their lives spiritually and morally with integrity and work ethic, with understanding about life, Scripture, economics, and history that will help them be successful adults in order to raise their children in the truth of God and His Word so they can continue it on into the generation that follows them. We, if you are so blessed to be great grandparents, need to be engaged in the influencing of our following generations in such a way that we help them to continue in faith in Jesus and in following the truth of God’s Word in their life personally. This is God’s plan for families to continue honoring Him into the future, churches to continue being faithful to God’s will and Word, and nations to remain free and blessed by God. May we all continue in His plan.