As we get older, we gain a treasure that cannot be had any other way: experience. It can only be learned "the hard way", however, its fruits can be shared. A good person will try to pass on the treasures of wisdom he or she has gained by experience and a wise person will try to learn them. Unfortunately, experience is often forgotten, underrated, or misused.
It is sometimes forgotten by us, and we miss out on many important benefits thereby repeating past mistakes and relearning things we once knew. It is often underrated, and people repeat mistakes unnecessarily. Finally, it can be misused, causing us to get stuck in regret or even worse, causing us to rest on past successes rather than moving forward.
While we can't always help it when others underrate the value of experience, something they do to their own detriment, we can chose to learn from other's experience and share the wisdom we gain. It is not just a helpful thing to do, I believe God commands it. In this Father's Day message I want to focus on the responsibility we all have, man or woman, to share the treasures of the past with the next generation so that we all can learn from them. God has given us a great wealth of wisdom and history in His Word that we all need to treasure, learn from, and share with others. He has shared with us selections from Israel's history that "were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4
Please note: this message fits together well with "Caring for the Children of the World" series you can find here and here.
