What is Your Lasting Legacy ?
Psalm 145:4
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
It had been a great week of elk hunting for the father and son team. It was the peak of the rut and bulls were very vocal. The father took a big 6x6 bull to start the week and while his son had had many opportunities, we were down to the last afternoon and he hadn't released an arrow yet.
That afternoon there were elk calling in every direction. We had gotten into the middle of a herd and there were females ready to be bred. The bulls were chasing cows all around us and it was hard to know which one to go after.
I was following close behind my brother Dave and our client as they snuck in closer to the herd. Suddenly they had two big bulls fighting in front of them at 25 yards. Our hunter drew his bow and released an arrow. The bull ran over a small hill and turned and ran back, expiring on the small woods road we were standing on.
We took a lot of photos and then went and got the truck and loaded the bull in the back. As we were finishing up I noticed that our hunter and his father had walked away 30 or 40 yards down the trail. I walked over and saw that they were carving a memory in the bark of an aspen tree on the edge of the trail. This message would last for many years as the bark healed around the markings.
Someday, many years from now, someone else will come by the tree and read that message. Whoever reads the message left on the mountain that day will remember it for many more years into the future. It was a physical impression they left there for years to come.
The thought came to me that the impression left by that father and son were left for many generations to see. Then I realized that all the "marks" that I leave in life will also be seen for generations to come. In some ways all of the "markings" we leave behind are part of our legacy. What will that legacy be? To what or who will our life point for future generations?
I find it significant that in John 17:1 "even the Son did not seek glory for Himself, but to glorify the Father." Jesus didn't want any credit, He wanted to point it all at the father. He just wanted to be obedient to His calling.
So what will your legacy be? We could build a building and have our name put on it. We can plant a church and be remebered for the money we gave. We can strive to be remembered for all kinds of good things. But what does God desire our legacy to be?
Obedience, pure and simple obedience. There is no better legacy. No one but God might see it in the future... and that is ok.
Now that's a legacy worth living for. Not a building or an institution, but living men and women who carry on His mission for His glory. I will likely never have the money to build any building with my name carved over the door, but I can focus my obedience so that Christ impacts others and they choose to live for Him. There is no glory for me, but there is great glory for Him because He can do this through me if I am willing to be used by Him.
Leave your mark for generations to come. It is the legacy we leave. It is LASTING IMPRESSIONS.
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