The families I spent time with in Charleston were some of the tightest knit families I've ever met in my life. I believe a lot of the reason for that is that the pastor and leader of our church showed us a great example of what it looks like to pass the baton to both children and grandchildren.
Ever since I was young I've been attracted to the guys around me who had tight knit families. I can't exactly explain why, but I always wanted to hang out with those guys and their families. I felt safer and more comfortable with them.
A lot of places in Scripture we're taught about fathers passing the baton to their sons. Abraham to Isaac. David to Solomon. And lesser known, but in my reading today, Aaron to Eleazor.
As a father, it seems like God's desire for us is to raise our children in the wisdom and knowledge that He has already blessed us with. To let them follow us and learn from us. To choose to spend time with them instead of apart from them. And, at times, even to value their growth over our own. We need to be selfless with our wives, but also selfless with our children.
In Numbers 20, God tells Aaron and Moses that they will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, and tells them to go up on a mountain so that Aaron can pass his robe to Eleazor before he dies. At this point, all that is left for Aaron to do in his life is to pass things off to his son. God didn't just allow Aaron to die, then allow Eleazor to step up and take his place, but it was an ordeal that required solitude and time to be spent between the father and his son.
I'm sure Aaron had a lot to talk to Eleazor about before he died on that mountain. I doubt that he just took his robe off and fell to the ground. God arranged a situation where Aaron could tell Eleazor how important it is to follow God in all His commands, how important it is to lead well and to love well, and how proud he was to be his father. I'm sure they shared stories and talked about how good life had been to them both. I'm sure they embraced and kissed and told each other how much they loved each other.
I would think that it was probably a very important moment of Eleazor's life. A moment he probably thought back on pretty often. Probably even a moment that fed into some decisions that he made later in life.
I can think back to moments like that that I've had with my dad, my mom, and my grandparents. What probably seemed like the simplest little moments to them played a huge role in the person I grew up to be. I hope I can be the same to my baby girl!
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