The Baton

Have you ever watched a relay race? Athletes run a pre-set distance carrying a baton before passing it onto the next runner. The process is repeated twice more in the race, as each man surrenders the baton to the next. Any miscalculation or hesitation at one point can cost the race. The Oxford dictionary on laxicon defined Baton as a short stick or tube passed from runner to runner in a relay race.

The graces that God released over time do not leave the earth. When a man gives birth to a son, the son picks up his name and then we say that the son is carrying on for  the man. He becomes the father of the House when the man dies. In the Bible, Abraham started his race and handed over the Baton to his son Isaac, who then passed it on to Jacob who handed over to his twelve sons - the twelve tribes of Israel. Elijah didn't exist the earth without passing the Baton to Elisha.

This present generation seems to have lost the Baton handed over to them. When we look around our society today, we could see that teenage pregnancy is on the rise, depression and suicide especially among young people had tripled, young girls commit abortion every day in this country, the Church has been taken for a joke, the younger generation picks up value systems from the world around them while rejecting Biblical Truth, sex and violence are being glorified, a generation that mocks Biblical morality and laughs at drunkenness and rudeness, the reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases especially among young people is alarming and so we worry and fear. 

There is so much fear in our generation today. Christians, families, teachers, doctors, pastors, students, etc have begun fearing and feeling that we’re losing the race. The fear that good morals, values, faith, gifts, etc wouldn't be passed on to the next generation. Who will take over the great men and women in ministry, business, politics, education etc when they are long gone? Men who changed the face of the earth - Benson Idahosa in 1960s and 70s, William F. Kumuyi, Kathryn Kuhlman, John G. Lake, Benny Hinn, the list goes on and on.

The word of God is the way (model) to pass the Baton to this generation. The book of Deuteronomy, the sixth chapter, and verses 4-7 says;

 "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons (and daughters) and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:4-7, NASB)".

Consistency and persistent is the key. If these great men and women were not persistent, they would not have been able to pass the Baton to this present generation. If this present generation fails to pick-up the Baton left for them by their Fathers, then it could be worse for the next generation because nothing would be handed over to the next generation, I reckon.