Someone rightly said, “Success without succession is not success”. In other words, successful people not only die with testimony but the fruit of their labour is passed on to their descendants down the generations.
Psalm 37:25-26 comes to mind: “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.” The fact that King David wrote the words we have just read makes them noteworthy. He is talking about it as a fact of life which could be verified and found to be true everywhere in the world.
Most of us have heard about people (men and women), some were even neighbours, who were famous with lots of money and properties; people we described as successful, powerful, and the envy of many. However, they died and seemed to have taken everything they had that made them famous with them to the grave, leaving behind children struggling in poverty.
As sad as it is, I must admit that it is not surprising considering that most of them believed that they had to sacrifice their souls to the devil in order to become rich in this world. Is it not sad to hear that someone had to go consult “herbalist”, “juju”, or join a cult in order to succeed in business or make money? Even politicians and false men of God do the same in order to win power and maintain it. It must be said that any parent who engages in the foregoing do so at the expenses of his/her offerings in the process, but even though some of them may know it they just don’t care.
Interestingly, King David whom God describes as “a man after God’s own heart” observed in the course of his life that the righteous is never forsaken nor his children beg for bread after he/she is gone because they are blessed! The righteous’ success has succession, as it were.
A plea to parents: Please do not allow your pursuit of fame, riches, power in your lifetime in this world cost your descendants heavily. You can not only win the world and lose your soul but even loose the God-ordained future of your descendants. You don’t have to live to be a curse to them. Live to be a channel of blessings to them by investing your time in the pursuit of righteousness.
One of the devil’s greatest lies is to equate righteousness with poverty -hence some people believe that honesty doesn’t pay and the devil gives riches and fame quicker than God. Yet, Abraham, King David, Job, to name only few, were righteous and very rich, powerful, and influential because they “walked with God”. No wonder, they passed their blessings onto their children.
Lord grant us the grace to first seek your Kingdom and righteousness as sure investment for the well-being of our future generations, in Jesus Christ’s name!
