Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Leaving a Legacy (Ps. 103:15-16)

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.

(Psalm 103:15-16, NKJV)

I don’t mean to be morbid, but we’re all going to die. And in a couple of generations, no one is going to remember us—or our stuff. Nothing we own now will matter. The jobs we hold. The hobbies we love. The vacations we take.

It’s just not going to matter. Indeed, “the wind passes over it, and it is gone …”

I’m blessed to have strong memories of all four of my grandparents. I even have some memories of my great-grandmother (my maternal grandmother’s mother). But further back than that? I couldn’t even tell you their names.

So if no one is going to remember us in a generation or two, is there anything we can do to leave some kind of legacy? Yes, but perhaps not the legacy about which you’re thinking.

The only legacy we can leave is sharing the truth of the gospel. Every time you talk about your faith, you plant a seed. You may also have the privilege of watering those seeds—and maybe even reaping. But much of the time, you may never see the reaping.

Even if you don’t reap all the seeds you sow, you can be confident you’re leaving a legacy that "neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal" (Matt. 6:20).

And for every seed you sow, you’ll probably never know how many other seeds will be scattered.

You can leave a legacy. You can have an eternal impact. And maybe no one will know your name in one hundred years, but your influence will be felt for generations.

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