How many times have you heard that old adage that if we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes of others who have gone before? While that observation has been made numerous times relative to the history of nations, the same words are applicable to our spiritual journey through life. God understands the importance of looking to the past for examples that will teach us vital lessons to go forward into the future. Consider the following verses:
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come (1 Cor. 10:6-11).
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire (Jude 1:7).
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire (Rom. 15:4).
We, in turn, are to be examples to those with whom we come in contact on a daily basis. “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an ensample to them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).
It is also important to realize that every generation stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before. Is this not at least part of the message of Hebrews 11? Those of us who enjoy innumerable blessings both physically and spiritually do so because of what others have done in the past. The WWII generation has been rightfully called the “Greatest Generation.” The phrase “Greatest Generation” was popularized by journalist Tom Brokaw in his 1998 book by the same name, which profiled Americans who came of age during the Great Depression and served in World War II, as well as those who supported the war effort on the home front. The term was initially used in 1953 by U.S. Army General James Van Fleet, who praised the soldiers of the Eighth Army as “the greatest generation of Americans we have ever produced.” Members of this generation were generally born between 1901 and 1927. They experienced profound economic hardship during the Great Depression, which instilled values such as perseverance, frugality, humility, work ethic, and personal responsibility.
It was that same generation that helped build the Lord’s church to become the fastest growing religious group in the world in the 1950’s and early 60’s. Because of the work they did, you and I enjoy the spiritual heritage that they left us.
Indeed, in both a secular sense and in a spiritual sense, we stand on the shoulders of those who went before us. The following story can be found on the internet. It impresses upon us the importance of remaining faithful ourselves so that we might pass on to the next generation the blessings and good fortunes with which we have been blessed by Almighty God. With it I shall close this week’s “Tom’s Pen”:
After dinner, children asked Jacob, a Jewish poet and storyteller, to tell them a story “about a giant.” Jacob smiles and begins:
A boy asks his father to take him to see a great parade through the village. The father, remembering the parade from his own youth, agrees. The next morning they set out. As they approach the route, the crowd thickens until it becomes almost a wall. The father lifts the boy onto his shoulders so he can see.
The parade begins, and the boy is dazzled by the colors and sights. He grows proud, telling his father how wonderful it is, even mocking those who see less — even saying to his father, “If only you could see what I see.”
Jacob pauses and says: “What the boy did not look at was why he could see. What the boy forgot was that once his father, too, could see.”
The children are disappointed, thinking they were meant to hear about a giant. Jacob replies: “I told you a story about a boy who could have been a giant.”
The lesson? A “giant” in this parable is anyone who remembers that we are all “sitting on someone else’s shoulders” — benefiting from the sacrifices, efforts, and gifts of those who came before us.
If we forget this, we become “a burden” — not just to others, but to ourselves, because we lose the humility and gratitude that come from recognizing our dependence on others.