Why We Lose Generations

Judges 2:7

And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.

One of the sad statements I see in the book of Judges is that the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and those who served with Joshua. Israel served the LORD as long as those who had seen the great works of the LORD were alive. However, as soon as those who had seen the great works of God were gone, Israel went the way of the nations around them and served gods instead of Jehovah God. Now, why did they lose this generation? They lost that generation because they stopped seeing great works. Every generation that saw the works of God kept serving God, but every generation that did not see the works of God strayed from God to go the way of the nations around them.

We wonder why we lose young people to the world, and my answer is that we lose them to the world because we have stopped showing them great works of faith. Every generation needs to see God do a great work. A generation is seven years. This means every seven years there needs to be a great work done for God so that we don't lose a generation. If every generation could see some great work of God in their lives, it would whet their appetite to want to see God do the same in their own lives. Let me share a few thoughts about this critical principle.

First, we are only one generation away from losing a generation to the world. We must understand that life goes by quickly, and not showing the next generation the great works of God means we are losing them to compromise and to the world. Because we are only one generation away from losing what we know is right to be, it is critical that each of us does what we can to see God do great works in our own lives so that the next generation can see the works of God.

Second, great works are never done if great works are never attempted. The next generation will never know how to even go after a great work if they don't see you attempting a great work. Here is the problem. The problem is that many of this generation don't want to work to see God do great works in their lives and ministries; instead, they want to play and take it easy, and feel spiritual as they do it. My friend, we are losing a generation that does not know the works of God. If they don't see the works of God, they will become critical of the ways of God, and eventually compromise and go the way of the world. We cannot be lazy in the work of the Lord and expect to see great works. Yes, it does take putting pressure on ourselves to do something great for God, and yes, it does take hard work to see something great happen for God; but is it not worth it to put up with the pressure and the hard work so that the next generation can see the works of God?

Third, great works will never be done if we wait for someone else to do those great works. Wouldn't it be good if your children saw their parents as the ones who did great work for God? Stop waiting for someone else to do something great for God and do it yourself. Step out by faith and attempt something big for God, and show your children that God is still God for every generation. The reason every generation needs to do great works for God is so that the next generation will see that God is still God for every generation. I challenge you to attempt something great for God so that you can be an example to the next generation that God is still God for them today.