“Let this be written for the generation to come, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.” – Psalm 102:18

A few years ago, I decided to start building my skillset as a professional biographer – to help people tell their stories.

Already, I have helped two gentlemen to write their autobiographies and the next one is getting set to launch his book early next year.

Frankly, it saddens me greatly when people with powerful stories pass on before writing them for posterity.

Indeed, many organisations and companies are investing significantly in documenting and telling their stories.

As a writer Himself, God believes in writing and instructs His people to write. I mean He personally wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone!

Just imagine what the Church and the world would be like if the Bible – right from Genesis to Revelation – had not been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, logos – the written Word, has profoundly influenced the world in numerous ways throughout history.

Its impact spans cultural, social, political, legal, philosophical, artistic, and scientific realms.

Western ethical thought is grounded in biblical principles of justice and social order.

The Ten Commandments, for example, have influenced legal systems in many countries, serving as a moral code for behavior.

“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.”

Historically, one of the key motivations for the spread of literacy globally was the desire for individuals to read the Bible in their own language.

Because of the written word, Christian missionaries did contribute greatly to the development of education, health care, and social infrastructure across the globe.

Also, many of the earliest universities such as Harvard and Yale, were founded by Christians with the goal of educating clergy and laypeople alike in biblical principles.

Apart from biblical figures, we continue to be inspired by the lives of rivalists such as Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, William J, Kathryn Kuhlman, Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, and Billy Sunday, among others though they passed on decades ago.

God used them powerfully and the movements they led have had a profound influence on contemporary Christian worship, theology, and church practices as we know them today.

“Let this be written for the generation to come, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD,” says the psalmist in our meditation today.

It is God’s will that what He has done be recorded for future generations – “so that people yet to be born would praise the LORD.”

That means we’re being unfair to the next generation if we don’t write.

God instructed Moses to: “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered.”

Psalm 22:30-31 says; “Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim His righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it”!

In Psalm 78:4-6, the psalmist declares; “We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done.”

In Revelation 1:19, our Lord Jesus told John to: “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.”

Sometimes I get shocked when someone who has even reached retirement age argues that he has nothing to write about.

What has God done through and for you over the decades of your life?  

Write whatever God did; write whatever He has done; write whatever He is doing and whatever He will do; write it for the benefit of the next generation and for posterity.

Write what you have seen, what you’re seeing and what you will see, says the Lord.