My husband is an only child. His father's only sibling was a sister. So when I married my husband we both really wanted to have at least one boy child to carry on his very unique name of 'Pass'. I didn't want his family name to die out and for him to become the last of his line. We were blessed with two boys and one girl and the family line will not end.
Maybe you have never had to think about your family line coming to an end. Maybe your surname is fairly common and if you don't have a boy to carry on the name, someone in the family will, so there's no pressure. But have you ever thought about your spiritual line? It has been said that the Christian church is only one generation away from extinction. Are you the last of your line? Are you the last Christian of your generation in your family? What about the younger generation? Are they following in your spiritual footsteps? Or will the spiritual line die out?
The Word tells us to 'train up a child in the way he should walk and when he is old he will not depart from it.' (Proverbs 22:6) We have an obligation to keep our spiritual heritage alive and well and most importantly: passed on. Older women of the faith are told to teach the younger women, (Titus 2) and in Deuteronomy 6 we are told to teach the Lord's commandments to our children. The Lord has been careful to instruct us throughout His Word, to teach others His ways so that our spiritual line will not end.
I once was asked to give a eulogy at the funeral for a dear old lady in our church. This woman had been a true soldier of the cross; a true Christian. She had not only witnessed by her life to her family but by her words and actions as well. Many of her children and some of her grandchildren had made that same personal decision to follow Christ as she had, but some hadn't. To those I addressed my plea for someone to pick up the torch which she had laid down. How sad it would have been if she had been the last Christian in her family when she died.
Will you be the last Christian in your family? I hope not. We need to focus our efforts on winning the lost, especially those in our own household, so that the spiritual line will not die out with us. No matter how many worldly treasures you will eventually leave behind for your family to benefit from, nothing will benefit them more than the eternal reward of a life lived for Christ.
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