REALSample

The Greatest Gift You Can Give the Next Generation

By Sion Alford

The water moved swiftly beneath His calloused, Galilean feet. A chill ran up His back as He stepped further into the cool river to join His eccentric friend and cousin, John, who insisted, “You should be baptizing me!”

“No, the time has come. The waiting is over,” answered the Nazarene. “It should be done, for we must carry out all that my Father requires.”

As He rose from the Jordan River’s water the heavens suddenly opened and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove. Then it happened. The silence of heaven was interrupted. A voice broke through the stillness of time with the sound of thunder. Jesus knew the voice behind the rumble. He recognized the thunderous applause from heaven as His Father’s loving voice.

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

Jesus heard words of affirmation and not commands like “Go here!” or “Do this!” He heard words of identity that spoke to who He was, not what He had done. They were exactly what this waiting Savior needed to hear after 30 long years of preparation.

No miracles had been performed. No healings had been demonstrated. No sermons had been preached. Only obedient obscurity. God broke through the silence of Jesus’ journey and confirmed the true identity of His Son.

The best gift we can give our children (and the next generation) is our affirmation of their true identity. Just as Jesus was not fully prepared for ministry until He had received the affirmation of His heavenly Father, we must realize that our children need the same before they are sent into the world to fulfill His will. Everything they face during their hiddenness in your home is to prepare them for their calling. It is during this season of their lives that we, as parents, are to teach, train, and prepare them for who they are and whose they are.

What does this look like in practical terms? If you are a parent, read the Word of God with your children. Pray with your children. Teach them to hear His voice. Prophesy and declare His promises over them. Even if you aren’t a parent, you can live out the call to raise up the next generation too. We are all surrounded by people younger than we are, and we have the ability to mentor them and affirm their identity. One day they will step into the Jordan River of their life prepared to fulfill their destiny and calling. Let the thunderous applause of heaven fill their hearts as they recite the affirmation of their Father in heaven: “I am a child of God!”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me the identity of being Your child. Thank You for the times You have hidden me, so I could learn who I am and whose I am. Help me to be a good role model to the next generation and help me to teach them about their true identity in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." John 15:12–13