Handing Over

“So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.”
1 Chronicles 23:1

Yes, David handed over the reins to his son, Solomon. And then we go to John 21:16, when Jesus said to Simon Bar-Jonah, that’s right, Peter:

“He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

Jesus handed over the responsibility to Peter. Today, we have to hand over to our young people - our children. What is so sad, so distasteful to me is someone who will just not release the reins. I want to say to mothers and I am very serious about this, love your teenage daughters. You have taught them, now hand over to them. Don’t try and compete with them. Don’t try and get dressed up like your daughter. You won’t look like her ever again. She is coming into the fullness of her beauty but be content to handover to her.

Same thing, dad. You know, to see a man trying to play rugby with his son is quite pathetic sometimes. And I am not even laughing... Dad, you are not going to get faster. You are going to get slower and your son is going to get faster because you taught him. Enjoy him! Handover to your son.

You know, I travel a lot and I sometimes go to a small church with maybe 50 people and I will hear a dynamic sermon and I will say to myself, “Why is this church not full of thousands of people, then I meet the pastor afterwards and his fist is closed. He won’t let anybody do anything in that church, except him, that is why it is so small. He will not hand over.

I watched a documentary a few years back of the life story of Henry Ford, the man who basically invented the motor car. He was an absolute icon in his time and one day his young son, probably in his early thirties said, “Dad, I want to show you something.” He brought him into the workshop and he pulled back a beautiful canvas sheet and underneath it was the most magnificent motor car that his son had made himself. Well, Henry Ford looked around and he found a huge fourteen-pound hammer, lying against the wall. He picked it up and he started to break that car into pieces - He trashed the car. He broke the windows, the bonnet... because he was jealous. But what he didn’t realize was he also broke his son’s heart.

We need to hand over and not only hand over... You see, David wanted to build the greatest temple in the world. The Lord said: “You are not going to do that. Your son is going to do that.” So David equipped him, He put in the money. He got the wood, he got the timber, he got the artisans, he got it all set up for Solomon and he let Solomon do the job. I want to say to you today, we need to hand over.

Just a couple of days ago an old friend came to see me, of my age group. A very successful farmer in South Africa but he came to see me with his son. It was so nice to meet him. They are talking about a huge project they are going to do, a citrus project. But you know, we only spoke about the project for a couple of minutes and then we started talking about our children. He told me about his son and his other son and his daughter, and his grandchildren. We just sat there and we were so thankful to God for what He has done through our children.

Hand over today and enjoy it!
Have a wonderful Sunday and God bless you.