Sea Legs

By Rusty Bean, NavsMilitary — The concept of generations is literally everywhere in the scriptures! It’s so prevalent a concept that you actually have to ignore it to not see it. It’s true with the Old Testament (even though it’s mostly in physical form) and it’s true with Jesus in the New Testament (this time in spiritual form). We can glean this principle from the whole of scripture.

I’m reading in Judges and I don’t get two or three chapters in and the concept of generations is once again staring me in the face:

“Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel.” – Judges 2:10 (The Message)

Who dropped the ball? Who failed to train them? Joshua? The elders? Who knows. All we know is that another generation grew up that didn’t know God or the work he had done for Israel. What is important is that we are always just one generation away from extinction. Always. This is true both physically and spiritually.

Generations are a lot like balance. Constant attention is required.

Before we can stand upright and walk, we must master the art of balance. If you spend time on a boat, you’ll find your balance being challenged constantly. You have to make continual adjustments. Sailors affectionately refer to this as “sea legs.”

My wife and I recently got back from a boat trip. Even after being on land for a while, we still had “sea legs.” I’d be walking along and ask my wife, “Did you feel that wave?” She would look over and acknowledge our sea legs were still with us!

You don’t think about balance once and then you’re done. Every time you move you have to deal with balance. As we get older and more experienced, balance becomes part of our everyday skills because we trained our minds as children to master it. But it’s always there, running in the back of our minds.

Just like walking on the deck of a boat, it can be challenging to stay on our feet as the world around us throws us curveballs. If we quit caring about balance, we will fall to the ground and not get up. Only when we choose to acknowledge and use balance, can we stand back up again.

Jesus taught his disciples about Kingdom life and laboring so they could lead the charge after He left. Let us follow Jesus’ example and NOT the poor legacy seen in Judges 2:10. Let us teach others about generational disciplemaking so they don’t fall overboard. There are people everywhere in our spheres of influence that are in need of “balance training.” Let’s stay on our toes and pass along our “sea legs”!