“GENERATION NOW”
OUR DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
DECEMBER 4, 2021
READ: 2 Kings 20 (Focus vs. 1-19)
MEMORY VERSE
“Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.” 2 Kings 20:2
BACKGROUND
“Never trust anyone over thirty,” said young environmentalist Jack Weinberg in 1964. His comment stereotyped an entire generation—something Weinberg later regretted.
Looking back, he said, “Something I said off the top of my head . . . became completely distorted and misunderstood.”
Have you heard disparaging comments aimed at millennials? Or vice versa? Ill thoughts directed from one generation toward another can cut both ways. Surely there’s a better way.
Although he was an excellent king, Hezekiah showed a lack of concern for another generation. When, as a young man, Hezekiah was struck with a terminal illness (2 Kings 20:1), he cried out to God for his life (vv. 2–3). God gave him fifteen more years (v. 6).
But when Hezekiah received the terrible news that his children would one day be taken captive, the royal tears were conspicuously absent (vv. 16–18). He thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?” (v. 19).
It may have been that Hezekiah didn’t apply the passion he had for his own well-being to the next generation.
God calls us to a love that dares to cross the lines dividing us. The older generation needs the fresh idealism and creativity of the younger, who in turn can benefit from the wisdom and experience of their predecessors.
This is no time for snarky memes and slogans but for thoughtful exchange of ideas. We’re in this together.
By: Tim Gustafson
INSIGHT
King Hezekiah ruled the Southern Kingdom of Judah from about 727–698 BC. One of the few “good” kings of the south, Hezekiah drove idolatry from the land and destroyed the “high places” where false idols were being worshiped.
Second Kings 18:3–6 bears witness to Hezekiah’s spiritual character, asserting that “he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done” (v. 3) and that “he “trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel.
There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him” (v. 5).
By: Bill Crowder
APPLICATION
In what ways do you think you may have ignored or disrespected others from a different age group? How might you use the gifts God has given you to serve them?
PR’s (PASTOR RICHARD) TAKE
All generations must “remember the Past; Create the Present; Inspire the future” Anonymous – Adapted
The generation that fails to run well its leg of Life’s relay will make life harder for the succeeding generations – pr
“We don’t own our family history, We simply preserve it for the next generation.”
PR’s RE-EMPHASIS (My Re-Emphasis from Post)
“God calls us to a love that dares to cross the lines dividing us…We’re in this together.”
PRAYER
“Forgive me, Father, for not appreciating others in a stage of life different from mine.”
*YOUR TAKE? 
TODAY’s HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“LORD THROUGH ALL THE GENERATIONS”
Lord, thro’ all the generations
Of the children of our race,
In our fears and tribulations,
Thou hast been our dwelling-place.
Ere the vast and wide creation
By Thy word was cased to be,
Or the mountains held their station,
Thou art God eternally.
Each succeeding generation
At Thy mighty word appears;
Thou dost count in time’s duration
One day as a thousand years.
Death, with swift and sudden warning,
Calls us from life’s dream away,
Like the grass, green in the morning,
Withered ere the close of day.
In Thy wrath our spirits languish,
Sinful ‘neath Thy searching eye;
All our days are passed in anguish,
In Thy wrath we pine and…
Threescore years and ten we tarry,
Fourscore years the strong may stay,
Long the load of grief to carry,
Till at last we fly away.
Who can weigh Thy just displeasure,
Who can fear Thee as he ought?
Teach us now our days to measure
And to wisdom turn our thought.
Lord, return, regard our sadness;
with Thy servants now abide;
Fill our days with joy and gladness,
With Thy mercy satisfied.
Long the clouds of evil lower;
Bless us now with gladsome days;
Let Thy servants see Thy power,
Let their children learn Thy praise.
On us let the grace and beauty
Of the Lord our God remain,
Strengthen us for noble duty
That our work be not in vain.
READING THROUGH THE BIBLE THIS YEAR (THIS WEEK)
THE BOOK OF JUDGES CHAPTERS 8-14
THE BOOK OF II CORINTHIANS CHAPTERS 8-13