I got a surprise call from my mother last Sunday.  She doesn’t usually call me especially on Sunday in the late afternoon.  She came from the old school where long distance telephone calls cost $1.00/minute.  When she is on the phone, she begins getting nervous when the phone call goes too long even though the cost of the phone call costs us nothing, old habits are hard to break.

It was so nice to hear from her and her main topic of conversation was whether I had watched the Denver Broncos play the Washington Redskins (Denver won).  Yes she is a Denver Bronco fan like myself.  I grew up rooting for Floyd Little and John Elway.  There were many years of pain and loss in the Super Bowl, but John Elway came through two years in a row and do we Bronco fans gloat over those wins.  My mom explained that they were behind for three-quarters and she almost turned the TV off because as she said, “I don’t like to watch them lose.”  I guess I take after my mom in that respect because when my team is losing, I have a tendency to turn the TV to another channel.  I guess you could call me a “fair weather fan” as my wife appropriately labels me.  She by the way is a Bronco fan but one of those rabid fans.

I got my passion from my grandma Gorton who at 90 knew every player on the team and watched them fervently.  She never got to see them go to the Super Bowl here on the earth, but I know she watches them up in heaven.  My daughter in Chicago was (and maybe still is) a rooter for the Broncos, but she has disturbed me with Chicago Bears talk and jerseys that are foreign to Colorado fans.

Well about 2 weeks ago, I got the following picture of my new grandson Keaton.   If you look closely you will see that my youngest daughter Victoria is carrying on the generational tradition in our family.  And the legacy lives on.

It’s healthy to carry on generational traditions that are passed from one set of family members to the next generation.  This truth refers to a football team, but how much greater it would be to carry on the truth that is found in the bible about our Lord to the generations that are coming up to take our place.  Moses said, “Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  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.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames on your houses and on your gates.” (Deut 6:4-9).

In the same way that we become passionate for a football team that weaves its way through at least 5 generations, God wants us to be passionate for His word and to talk about Him to our children when we walk along with them and when we tuck them into bed, and when they are lying on our bed and when we wake up in the morning.  As someone has once said, we are one generation away from Christianity becoming extinct.  If we don’t carry the message to our children, the next generation will become void of God’s truth.

Today on your journey, take some time to read His word and pass it along to those you come in contact with.