Legacy

I watched a movie last night called “The Dig.” It is about an archaeological discovery in Suffolk, England. At the site of some burial mounds, the team of excavators discover a 90 foot long Anglo-Saxon boat buried with its owner after his death. They found a number of treasures and gold along with it. It may not sound the most exciting blockbuster from my clumsy description, but it was an enjoyable film.

One of the key themes of the movie is about what we leave behind. On the one hand, it was a tremendous find – the boat, the treasure and the history – and yet little is known of the owner. One of the characters comments that they feel futile in the face of death, fearing they will be forgotten in a few short generations. The chief excavator rather thinks we are all part of an ongoing story, and each play our part in the richness of history.

It got me thinking about what we leave behind us – our legacy.

Life is short, and it can so often fly by without us paying full attention. Someone once said that you don’t grow old, but instead wake up one day and realise that you are! Yet we can each make a lasting difference in the world. Few of us can be world leaders, chairs of huge internationals or jet-setting celebrities but we can each make a contribution to those we live life with.

Don’t feel you have to change the entire world, but do change it for someone. You may not be able to end world hunger on your own, but you can feed someone in need for a single meal. And I suspect that is something that person will not forget in a long, long time.

The Bible tells us to think about those generations that follow.

A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children,
but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

Proverbs 13:22 (NIV)

We see in this verse that we are to leave an inheritance for our grandchildren. Many of us make plans to pass on our belongings and wealth to our children, and that is clearly a right thing to do. The Bible goes further though, encouraging us to think not just of our direct children, but of their children beyond them.

Finances are but one way of leaving a legacy of course, and there are much more important things we can leave behind.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (NIV)

The most important thing we can give the next generation, and all those that follow, is knowledge of the Lord and His Word.

These verses were given to the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land, but they are every bit as applicable to us Christians today. We are to fix them in our hearts and minds. For me, that means using our brains to really understand them, but also to let them change our hearts in our inner being. Without the heart, studying the Bible becomes a mere intellectual exercise without any need for faith or a changed life.

While the Israelites took these commands literally, and actually bound the Scriptures to their hands and foreheads, I think there is a symbolic notion here too. Binding God’s commands to our foreheads again speaks to me of keeping the Word ever in our mind. It means the Word of God is ever before our eyes no matter what we or where we go. Likewise, binding the Scriptures to our hands to me means letting the command of God influence all that we do. When we work with our hands, we do so in and for God and His glory.

These verses tell us to pass on what we have learned about the Lord. We are to teach our children of the things of God, and to do so when we go out and when we come in. We are to talk about God in every situation; while we eat, while we educate, while we play games with them. Let everything we do with our children be an opportunity to point to the goodness of God and what He has done for us.

Surely this is the most vital legacy we can leave behind us! It is not about us being remembered, or our individual contribution being marked, but rather that God is remembered and His praises sung by each generation that follows.

Will these words be read by someone in a hundred years? Will one of my descendants pick up one of my books to read? Only God knows. Even if I am forgotten, I pray that my life will mean that there are more people heavenbound than there were before.

What kind of legacy will you leave? What contribution can you make to God’s glory? Seek the Lord for the answers today.

Yesterday I posted an audio post introducing A Journey with Jesus. I put the video out on Facebook last night, but for some technical reason I can’t post the video to the blog. If you want to watch, please click here to see it on Facebook.