Pass The Baton

It is Friday, 2nd October 2020, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day.

If we go to the Old Testament, to the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 31 and verse 7, the Word of God says:

“Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.”

Moses passed the baton on to Joshua.

Joshua had walked with Moses for forty years in the desert.

When Moses was 120 years old, The Lord said to him, “You will not take the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the land of milk and honey. I am sending my servant, Joshua, with them.”

Its not an easy thing to hand over that baton, especially when you have built it up from nothing all by yourself.

Remember Henry Ford, when they wanted to paint the Model G Ford a different colour,

He said, “You can paint it any colour you like, as long as it stays black.”

I said that to my oldest son once. I said, “Remember Andy, any colour as long as it stays black.”

He said, “Dad, that was the undoing of Henry Ford, because all the other motor car manufacturers started painting their cars different colors.”

We must be prepared, not only to hand over the baton, but to allow our sons and daughters to change the colour.

The Lord has designed it this way.

I want to say to you today, you really need to give your loved ones a chance.

And I am not talking only to the men, I am talking to the women as well.

I love to go to my daughters’ houses because the food is delicious.

Of course I can taste mother’s recipes in that cooking, but their homes are different because they have different characters and different personalities because they have been allowed to develop what God has created in them.

There is nothing so sad for me as to see an old man holding on by his fingertips, the business or the farm or the ministry that he has built up and will not hand that baton over.

Eventually, the young man leaves and he goes somewhere else and makes his own way and the old man sits there and everything that he has built up disintegrates around him.

We really need to get out of the driving seat, walk around and get into the passenger seat and let your son or your daughter drive the car.

It brings great joy to my heart when my sons come to me and say, “Dad, have you got a minute?”

And I always say ,”yes”.

They say, “Jump in the pick-up. I want to show you a new project that I am planning.”

And you know, you have got to pay school fees.

We always forget that, the older folk.

We think we have never made a mistake before.

Oh dear, I made so many mistakes I want to tell you. It is absolutely ridiculous.

You have got to give your son or your daughter, an opportunity in order to learn.

And at the end of the day, the greatest teacher of all time, is of course, The Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. What did He do?

At first the disciples walked with Him and then He walked with them and then He left them to get on with the job and sent His Holy Spirit and The Holy Spirit took over.

God bless you as you hand over that baton.