What About Your Legacy?

Have you ever thought about what kind of legacy you are going to leave behind? My heart has been a bit heavy over the people who have passed on in our circle lately. Not long ago a friend from high school lost her husband~he was only 4o. He woke up with a headache and by the next evening he had gone on to meet his Saviour. He suffered from a bleed in his brain. We just found out a close family member has stage 4 cancer. We have been praying for a fellow Pastor's child~he passed away at age 4.  We buried two of our church members last week.  The Bible says we have a day to be born and a day to die! Now I am not telling you this to depress you ~I simply want you to think about the reality that the Bible says~

James 4:14   Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, thatappeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 

It is foolish to get so caught up in this world and believe we will live forever. It just is not so! At a funeral last week I listened as a dear sweet lady's children spoke about their mother at her Homecoming Celebration. It was so wonderful~ for this lady at the age of 92 had spent her life serving God and her family. She taught her children what was really important! Regardless of what the world keeps shoving down us~it is not more things! She left a Godly legacy of children and grandchildren who had accepted Christ. She can take them all to Heaven with her.  She was not able to take her home or her beautiful china. No~she had to leave all that behind. She will not  want or need them in Heaven anyway. I hope you get the picture. 

We are going to leave a legacy of some type regardless of what our belief system is. It will either be good or bad. Our heirs will reflect what kind of influence we had on their lives. 

Paul writes~

 2 Timothy 1:5   When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 

Paul is telling his friend, Timothy, to remember the influence that his mother and grandmother had upon his life. In II Timothy 1:3-18, Paul tells Timothy to concentrate on the past, present, and the future aspects of leaving a legacy.  Paul wants Timothy to "fan the flame" of his faith! He was telling him to be bold and courageous in his faith as he had been taught by his Godly mother and grandmother.

In the second part of these verses~  Paul tells him to follow the plan God has for his life. So many times we just make our own plans and choices. God has a plan for all of our lives. We would be so much better off to listen to what He wants us to do instead of following every whim. God wanted Timothy to preach the Gospel and not be ashamed~even though he was going to encounter suffering!

Another part of passing down a legacy to others is the pattern that others have seen of our lives. I want my legacy to those I love to be that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and that was the best decision I had ever made. I want them to know that God will never leave them or forsake them. That they can trust God in every decision in life. That if they live a self absorbed life, they will have nowhere to run when the storms of life come knocking at their door. And~I have lived long enough to know the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Those  storms come blowing in ~sooner or later. We need God~not alcohol, drugs, or any other addition we may try to use to fill the emptiness!  Life is hard but God is always good! How will they know God is important to me?~they must see me living it! We must develop a plan to pass down our faith! What kind of legacy are you going to leave behind?