Equip Grandparents to Pass on a Heritage of Faith: Pay Attention & Remember Their Blessings are from God

We have been looking at how grandparents are part of God's plan to pass on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren, and how the children's ministry can help them focus on doing so. Today I want to think about what it means when Deuteronomy 6 says - 

Be careful that you do not forget  the Lord.

Apparently the people of Israel had trouble with remembering all the things God did for them; how He saved them, led them and provided for them. Over and over they forgot. We tend to do the same. We think the things we have are because of what we have done instead of remembering all we have are blessings from the hand of God. We forget God's goodness, but He says to be careful we do not forget. He wants us to remember and we need to remember. When it comes to grandparents passing on a heritage of faith, is an important part of them doing so, because if they do not remember God and His many blessings, their grandchildren are unlikely to do it.  

Psalm 78 tells how this happened with God's people over and over. They received blessings from God, parents and grandparents thanked God. Then, they forgot to tell their children and grandchildren and they slipped away from God and into sin. Bad things happened, they turned back to God, thanked Him for His blessings, then forgot, didn't tell their children and grandchildren and it all happened all over again and again.

If we are serious about equipping and encouraging grandparents so they are better able to pass on a heritage of faith, we have to help them remember their blessings come from God, teach this to their children and grandchildren, so they can do the same. We can do this in the following ways . . . 

• Challenge them to pay attention to the blessings God gives us - big and small. Look for them! Make note of them! Pay attention!
• Encourage them to tell their grandchildren how God has blessed them in the past and how He continues to do so today.
• Remind them to ask their grandchildren how God is blessing them.
• Make, "Blessing Books" where they and their grandchildren write and/or draw their blessings - big and small. Go through them often to remember God's blessings and thank Him for them!

These are just a few ideas of how we can encourage and equip grandparents to pass on a heritage of faith by paying attention to and remembering God's blessings!