Leaving A Legacy
Here is a great question: How many of us can name the people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize, the academy award winners for best actor or actress, the most valuable players in football, basketball or baseball in the last ten years? Yesterday’s heroes are soon forgotten. They are not insignificant people or second-rate achievers. They are at the pinnacle of what the world calls success. But overall, we do not remember them because their achievements are quickly forgotten. Let us ask ourselves another question: How many of us can remember the name of the most helpful teacher we had in school, or the two friends who helped us through a difficult time, or someone who taught us something worthwhile or believed in us as we were growing up? That is a lot easier to remember. People will soon forget what we have done, but they will never forget how we have loved them and influenced them out of a sense of acceptance and compassion. The reality of life is that at our funeral, people will say a few nice words, eat potato salad at the dinner and go home and back to their lives. We would like to think that the world is going to completely stop for a few days and grieve our passing (and for close family and friends that is true) but in reality times marches on. What we do today will be forgotten tomorrow. It has been said: “If you want to know how much you will be missed when you are gone, put your finger in a bucket of water, and then remove it. The hole that’s left will be how much you are missed.” It is only what we invest in the lives of others that will last forever. It becomes a chain or a legacy of building up and encouraging those whom we come in contact with. The people who have left a legacy in our lives are people who connected with us and made us better people. Some of the saddest words in the Bible are found in 2 Chronicles 21:20 concerning Jehoram, “He passed away to no one’s regret.” These words are a challenging reminder to all of us that what is ultimately important are the relationships that we have, both with God and the people that He has put in our lives. Legacy is not leaving something for people. It’s leaving something in people. People who can then invest in others, who invest in others, who invest in others, whether the others remember our name or not. Psalms 112:6 says, “A righteous man will be remembered forever.” If we can leave people, today, stronger in their faith, feeling better about themselves, then it really doesn’t matter whether we are remembered or not. All that matters is that we have fulfilled God’s calling of being one link in the chain of ministry with those around us. Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Let us create our legacy and pass the baton.
—George W Flattery
This is a rich devotional thought to ponder. While each line is thought provoking, I’m especially struck by the phrase at the end, All that matters is that we have fulfilled God’s calling of being one link in the chain of ministry with those around us. One link in the bigger picture God. Some sow. Some water. Some reap. It is always God who gives the increase and thank the Lord for that! He can prosper our efforts in loving and serving others; He multiplies our efforts. Let us step into this day and all its opportunities realizing it is not the recognition and accolades of man we seek, but the higher calling of our God to embody Christlikeness, embracing the paradoxes: the last will be first, the greatest will have been the servant of all. May the Lord bless your efforts today, exponentially! —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics