The lupines are still blooming! It’s Labor Day weekend … and the lupines are still blooming! This brings me so much joy!
Lupines are my favorite flowers! Right up there next to sunflowers!
The lupines always start blooming right around Memorial Day weekend … as if ushering summer in. And here they are still blooming at Labor Day weekend, as if saying farewell to summer. Perfect “bookends” for summer.
As I walked past the lupines last night I was struck by the thought of generational legacy. Because on the same lupine plant you can see the very first bloom spire which bloomed back at Memorial Day – it is already spent and has already scattered its seeds. In the background, behind the tall already-spent original bloom spire you can see a shorter bloom spire with green seed pods – which are in the process of drying out and getting ready to scatter seeds. And in the foreground, you can see the brand-new bloom just coming into its beauty!
What a fantastic picture of generational legacy!
The tall already-spent bloom spire could represent the “first generation” … or we could say, the grandparents.
The shorter bloom spire with green seed pods could represent the “second generation” … or we could say, the parents.
The brand-new bloom just coming into its beauty could represent the “third generation” … or we could say, the grandchildren.
Here is another view from a different angle of the three generations.
Generational legacy matters to God!
In Psalm 78:5-6 God commands ancestors to teach their children about the Lord, so the next generation would know the Lord, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
“He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deed but would keep his commands.” – Psalm 78:5-7
In Deuteronomy 4:9 God instructs: “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let the slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Generational legacy matters to God! It matters to God that the first generation is standing right there alongside the second and third generation. It matters to God that the third generation is standing “with the support” (so to speak) of the first and the second generations.
All my life I have heard the analogy that our faith is like “passing on the baton.”
The thing is, in a baton relay-race, once you pass the baton on to the next runner your portion of the race is through, and you can stop.
This is not what God wants. God does not want the first generation to simply “pass the baton of faith” on to the second generation … then “tap out of the race.” God does not want the second generation to simply “pass the baton of faith” on to the third generation … then “tap out of the race.”
No! God wants all the generations to be standing tall together! Together!
A better analogy (which I heard back in 2018, and it blew my mind!) is that of an Olympic Torch runner. The Olympic Torch runner holds the Olympic Torch high! They run their portion of the course … then they hand the Olympic Torch off to the next runner (this would be the second generation). But they don’t just quit. They keep running alongside the next runner!
The previous Olympic Torch runner runs alongside and supports and encourages the next runner as far as they can! … as they, in turn, hand the Olympic Torch off to the next, etc. …
This right here is what God wants generational legacy to be! Each generation running alongside – encouraging and passing on the faith one hard mile after the next. All the generations together! Running the course together! Encouraging each other together! Supporting each other together! Standing tall together!
