Passing The Word On

The Israelites entered the Promised Land, and proceeded by and large to do the will of God, to establish themselves in the place that God had ordained for them.  They exercised faithfulness and experienced the provision of the Lord.  But, things changed quickly, according to Judges 2 (ESV), which states:
7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.
8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years.
9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.
10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

One. Generation.  That's all it took.  That's why we must reach future generations with the gospel of Christ and testify to His faithfulness.

Johann Klaassen's grandson had, as CBN.com puts it, "expressed an interest in spiritual matters."   He began to think about what he could relate to his grandchildren for the future.  He said, "I thought, you know, if I recorded the Bible, I could give it to him, and he would have grandpa's voice forever," adding, "We're only here for a short period of time, so what can we leave?"

So, each day for a year, he took a portable audio recorded and spoke God's Word. The article said, "Klaassen utilized a 'Read the Bible in a Year' plan and began recording his reading of scripture on January 1, 2025. That allowed to complete his project in one year.

Even though admittedly there were struggles to read the designated passage, he didn't give up, didn't back off - kept his eyes on the goal!  The CBN story related:

After completing more than 500 recordings, Klaassen loaded the MP3 files onto colored flash drives, gift-wrapped them, and presented them to his five grandchildren on Christmas Day.

"They loved it," Klaassen said of his grandkids' reaction. "They were like, 'Whoa, dude, grandpa - go gramps.' They were fired up."
 
A family member recorded the touching gift exchange on video, which has now been viewed by millions online.

Klaassen commented on the online response: "Power of Christ. Power of the Holy Spirit. God works in mysterious ways, and this is pretty mysterious."  And, he desires that his family members and others will be impacted.

Just as I thought regarding America Reads the Bible last week in Washington, as the Bible tells us, the Word of God will not return void.  The truth of Scripture is a powerful force through which lives are transformed.  So, what this grandfather, in his early 70's, is leaving behind is timeless and priceless.

We can also consider what the Lord may be leading us to do in order to reach the next and future generations with His truth.  Faith Radio is in the midst of our "Reaching the Next Generation" campaign in which we are asking 350 people to give a thousand dollars for needed equipment upgrades on our facility at WLBF in Montgomery.  You can learn more through our website or app.

It's a sad account from the book of Judges.  After ALL that the Lord had done for His people, still a generation came that didn't know God; didn't even know about His faithfulness to Israel.  Verse 11 of Judges 2 says, "And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals."  We have to keep the Word of God flowing. We must be faithful to know His Word, speak His Word, and do His Word - shining the light of Christ!

And, please keep in mind, Johann Klaassen, read the Word out loud every day for a year. Every day.  What a reminder of the importance of consistent time in Scripture, regular time with the Lord.