Legacy

What kind of legacy will you leave behind. I sat with a 96 year old man earlier this week. I listened with fascination as he told me about his career and how 47 years ago he started a company. The company is still going run by a family member. He recounted tragedies he endured like the death of his parents, wife, and daughter. He talked about financially lean times when he first started his business. Times when they ate a lot of beans because that was about all they could afford. He talked about work ethic. When he was 92, he loaded up in his truck and drove through the night to pick up a load of equipment to be delivered the next day. He got loaded close to midnight and drove back to his business arriving around 5:00 a.m. to unload the truck for a salesman to go make the delivery. Then he stayed awake and worked through the day without any sleep. 

He has seen so many changes over his life. He knows that he will not be around forever. He thinks Jesus will return soon. He loves His family and his church. He has been a member of our church multiple decades. He has seen the church go through hard times and good times and stuck through it all. 

I could not help but ask him a question. "When you die, what do you want people to say about you and remember about you?" I had no idea what he would say. I did not expect the humble answer he gave. He replied, "I want to be remembered as a good man who tried to do right." What a legacy this man will leave behind for family and friends. He has walked with Jesus longer than I have been alive. 

Legacy is defined as something transmitted or received from an ancestor or predecessor. What legacy did my family leave behind? My maternal grandmother loved to read. If she was not working around the house, or even when she cooked, there was a book nearby. She took me to get my first library card and often took me to a local bookstore to buy books. I fell in love with the Hardy Boys mystery books. She left a legacy in me for reading. I just finished a biography a few moments ago before I started writing. 

My maternal grandfather left a legacy of sports and competitiveness. He played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track in high school. He played semi-pro baseball. He taught me to catch and throw a baseball and football. He and I watched football and baseball games many times in his room. He took me to my first high school football game. I regret that he never saw me play a high school or college football game. He died of Leukemia before I on varsity. I wept and wept when he died. He was more a father to me than a grandfather. I still miss him all these decades later. He never met Brenda or our four sons. He never saw me get saved and baptized. He did know God called me to preach. He was not there to give advice to navigate high school, college, marriage, and parenthood. He did leave me a legacy of determination, resolve, and not giving up. He taught me to work for what I wanted. 

Now that I'm officially classified as a senior adult, I think about legacy. What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind. Very simple. A legacy of faith. What do I mean? I want to pass on my faith to as many people as possible before I die. Whether it be children, students, adults, future family, and those God puts in my path. I want to constantly point people to Jesus. I want to see many saved. 

Leaving a legacy of faith means leaving a legacy of prayer. If people could talk about all the prayers God answered for me, all the supernatural ways God intervened in my life, all the impossible things God did in answer to prayer, and it could inspire them to pray and to believe God for great things, that would be a legacy I'd like to leave. What about you? What kind of legacy are you leaving for those who will be left behind? Live your life in such a way to make that legacy come true that will pass down.