The news of his death had brought thousands upon thousands of mourners to the small waterfront community that he had retired to twenty years earlier. It was a funeral, unlike anything the town people had ever seen. Brightly painted florists vans from across the state caravaned across the historic old draw bridge to the small island church to deliver arrangements large and small. Zee had left a legacy that spanned generations and continents.
Small and large groups huddled together on the expansive beach front grounds surrounding the quaint chapel at the sea. Laughter and tears united old friends and introduced new ones in a beautiful, poignant celebration of a life well lived. Snippets of amazing stories could be heard as I meandered my way through the crowds. This was a man that had been loved! This was a man who had left behind a powerful legacy and whose legacy will live on long after his body is lowered into the ground and the mourners return home.
What legacy are you creating today that you will leave behind when your time on this earth passes away? It's the important things in life that really matter. But what are those truly important things? The world masks what is important and deceives us into believing that there is significant value in the temporary and materialistic things of our 21st century world.
Think about it, the shiny new car that carried a whopping $42,000. 00 price tag when you drove it off the lot, in ten years might bring in 10 % of the original price when you get ready to trade it in for a new model. The expensive toys, gadgets, clothes, and stuff you had to have; eventually wore out, became worthless and found their final home in a landfill. While the things of this world will rust away, the things of God will live on for all eternity.
When your days pass away and you enter the Heavenly place... will you have left behind a legacy that glorifies God? Will the inheritance that you leave be one that gifts your family, friends, and all that knew you and even many who didn't, with treasures that transcend the materialistic?
There is nothing wrong with leaving your children with an abundance of worldly goods, but I am asking you to consider what eternal treasures are you bequething to the world. Perhaps it is a good time to stop and assess the legacy that you are creating. Is it a legacy with eternal value or is it a legacy that is only based on worldly value?
How does your legacy stack up? An eternal legacy:
1. Leaves others thirsty and inspires them to desire to know more about who and what influenced you.
2. Leaves others with extensive positive memories of how you quenched your thirst.
3. Points to God as the True source that quenched your thirst.
4. Points to God as the Answer to any problem of life.
5. Shows how you loved the Bible and read it daily.
6. Shows how you enthusiastically made the Bible the basis of your life, marriage, family, and career.
7. Shows how you fearlessly witnessed to your children and others about the God you loved.
8. Illustrates how you taught your children to love and depend on God and to how to establish their own personal relationship with their Creator.
9. Illustrates how you read and studied the Bible with your children and that they recognize the importance of doing the same with their children.
10. Illustrates how you prayed with your children and people who came across your path for God's Will.
In the final analysis were you successful in living a life that really mattered and did you succeed in making a positive impact on the lives you touched? Is the world a better place because you did more than just pass through? Do you expect to see your family and friends again one day and spend eternity with them?
Ok, so maybe you havn't done all these things yet. It's ok. It is never to late to get started in creating a powerful family legacy that will span generations. The guidance in how to proceed
is contained in the greatest book ever written. Won't you ask God to lead you according to His divine will and unlock some of the sacred mysteries of how you can create an extraordinary legacy with your life? Agape!
copyright (c) Kathi Dameron November 20, 2005
No comments:
Post a Comment