The Scripture is quite plain.  “Children are an heritage of the Lord,” says Psalm 127:3.  Then, Proverbs 17:6 states, “Children’s children are the crown of old men.”  These children are to be taught the truth about God and His commandments (Deuteronomy 6:4-7) and are to be brought up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).  The Bible speaks much about communicating truth as imperative for the coming generations.  You can be sure that the god of this world knows this.  And his world system is built to combat this.  The strategy is at least as old as the book of Daniel, the focus of our current Sunday morning series, “Faithful Living in a Foreign Land.”  The conquering Babylonians took the youth from Israel to indoctrinate them in the ways of their pagan culture.  And this Babylonian bombardment continues today.  A flawed education system, children’s programming, social media, and even some video games are ammunition in this fight for our youth.  But perhaps the most effective tool of the enemy is the spiritually apathetic and uncommitted parent.  Parents who should be godly guardians of what enters and what happens in the home.  Parents who should be teaching kids to love and serve God and modeling the same.  Parents who should have the entire family in God’s house when it’s open.  But I often see just the opposite.  I see parents who are afraid to say “No” to their children.  Parents who teach everything but what it means to be a faithful, serving Christian.  Parents who put just about anything and everything (sports would be a good example) ahead of church.  May the Lord challenge us as parents and grandparents to seek to instill the spiritual fortitude that the Scripture shows in young Daniel.  May we build the boundaries.  May we set the example.  May we lead the way.  May we boldly stand against the Babylonian influence.  It’s simple.  One day we’ll be gone, and they’ll be here to carry on what we’ve taught them.  And I wonder what that will look like?