As I’m reading through the Word this year, I’m trying to highlight one verse each day from the portion I read. It’s a verse that seems to catch my attention, have a deep impact on me, or stirs a new train of thought or incites new learning.

Today as I read the very familiar Ten Commandments from Exodus 20, I was caught again by the idea in verses five and six: “…For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” These are God’s very own words to Moses. He tells Moses, and us, that His compassion and mercy outweigh His anger and judgment when He says that His punishment to those who hate Him will carry on for three to four generations, but His love will be poured out for a thousand generations to those who love Him.

Wow! Just wow!

The enemy infiltrates our thinking and paints God as a harsh disciplinarian whom we would want to hide from. But that is not at all who God tells us He is. God tells us He loves biggest, judges small and only when He has to, is our rescuer, redeems and restores, and desires to be our friend (among a bunch of other things). Yet we listen to the whispers of the enemy, whispers that lie and divide and alienate.

That’s all just my set up today. My real “meat” of what God showed me was this thought… What am I passing on to my children? Am I so self-focused and short-sighted that I live for myself and never realize that I am passing on sin and punishment to them when I sin? I bestow on them a legacy of harsh consequences with my disobedience. I leave them caught in a web of generational sin that they must work to break out of. I excuse myself with, “That’s just the way I am,” and then I kick the ball down the road for the next generation to deal with and try to fix themselves.

What about when I love God? What am I passing on then?

I’m granting my children and grandchildren a fresh start to walk in their love for God, in freedom, and in opportunity when I choose obedience and honor of God. When my love for the Father affects the way I live, I am showing my children the right path. I am bequeathing a legacy of hope and love. I am setting up the start of One Thousand generations being blessed. One Thousand! Isn’t that worth me denying myself and choosing not to sin? It’s worth so much more than a million dollar 401K, an estate worth mega-dollars, or mama’s jewelry or china. Yet we often focus on things as most important to pass on. Why?

I challenge you as challenge myself today, let us walk with God. Let us seek Him and find Him. Let us know Him and love Him. Let us listen and obey and bring glory to Him. There is no better legacy we can pass on to our children, and none that has such long rang impact on generations to come.

The Blessing by Kari Jobe

The Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peaceAmen, amen, amen
Amen, amen, amenThe Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peace
Amen, amen, amen
Amen, amen, amenMay His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And Your family and your children
And their children, and their childrenMay His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their childrenMay His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with youIn the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you, He is for youHe is for you, He is for you
He is for you, He is for you
He is for you, He is for youAmen, amen, amen
Amen, amen, amenMay His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with youIn the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you