2Ch 10:1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.
2Ch 10:2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.
2Ch 10:3 And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
2Ch 10:4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
2Ch 10:5 And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.
2Ch 10:6 And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?
2Ch 10:7 And they spoke unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants forever.

What an indictment of the lazy and slothful church in America these verses are. How often have we heard men say, “I just want my kids to have it better than I did”? Following after the false idol of the ‘American Dream’, fathers and pastors for several generations now have let their children off the hook, lightening the yoke of the next generation.

As a husband and father, are you capable of doing the things that your grandfather could do?

My own grandfather, Willard, left school after the 8th grade. There was nothing left to teach him in that day and age, and he was ready to go to work. One of my favorite family photographs is of him in the 1920’s. He was on horseback, one of the last true cowboys at age 14, smiling down at his little cow-dog. He grew up without electricity, in a place where you grew it or killed it yourself, otherwise you didn’t eat. He was married to my grandmother at about age 21, and I had the good pleasure of attending their 60th wedding anniversary. Their five children went on to produce more than a dozen grandchildren, and now I’ve lost track of all the great-grandchildren that my generation has produced.

I suppose every generation asks for a lighter yoke than the one that came before it. Unfortunately, when men get old they sometimes advise lightening the yoke, and speaking kind words to us, in order to please us. We’re not better off for this. When I see a young man who has to call AAA (on his i-phone, of course) to change a flat tire for him, because he doesn’t know how, it makes me wonder how bad things are truly going to get when God judges this nation. Never mind encouraging and exhorting a young man like that. I’m probably going to have to feed him if everything collapses.

The yoke will get heavy once again, and most likely in my lifetime. I thank God that I was raised by men who knew how to work with their hands. They taught me to ride a horse, to kill an animal that’s larger than me (with a sharp stick, no less!), to change a tire, to put out a fire, to catch a fish, to grow food in the ground. Things that men are supposed to do, and supposed to know how to do. I’m wishing now that they had taught me more, that I hadn’t been so slothful in my youth, asking for my own lighter yoke.

I thank God that my wife and I are not going to make the same mistakes with our own children, that previous generations have made. We don’t have lower expectations, but higher ones, for our kids. They laugh and run and play, and they are a delight and blessing to me, and yet they will be trained up as a generation to glorify God. Most of the unsaved men who are my age would lose a debate on evolution vs. creation with my 9-year-old, so long as she puts her hula-hoop down first. (Forgive me, Father, for the sin of pride at this. It is YOUR work in her, not mine.)

Our society keeps putting a lighter yoke on every successive generation. I doubt that my grandfather would have known what to make of it. The words of Moses are true: Prosperity causes man to forget God.

Deu 8:12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Deu 8:13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Deu 8:14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage