Leaving a Legacy

Today I read Deuteronomy 32-34, 1 Corinthians 2, and Love Dare day 2. I have been thinking a lot lately about what legacy I will leave behind for my boys and whether or not they will have a passion for the Lord and have a deep insight into who he is that I feel I have gotten over the years and inherited from my parents. This deep desire has been fueled not only by my love for my boys and for the Lord but also by my own guilt for not being as intentional as I think I should be. Here in Deuteronomy we read about Moses’ blessing to each of the tribes of Israel. In particular he blesses the Levites who where the pastors in many ways for being more loyal to God than they were their own relatives. These were the guys who kept true to God’s word and commands and carried out everything he commanded them to do. Being a pastor I would love to have that on my own epitaph. To have others say that I was more loyal to God than anything else would be the way I would want to be remembered, not just on the outside so people could have been fooled by my behavior but in my heart and soul as well. Those are the places that only God knows so most importantly I would want to have him say that to me on the other side of eternity. That kind of legacy to pass on to my boys so they see it and hopefully have the same passion for it would be my prayer.

Yet in so many ways I feel I fall short just like the Israelites did and even Moses himself. Moses was a man who the scriptures say no one had a relationship with God face to face like Moses. What an honor and incredible responsibility that must have been for him. Yet I have the Holy Spirit living in me so my face to face relationship with God, while not visible physically, is ongoing and intimate. I want to live according to God’s wisdom which the world says is foolish, instead of by my own wisdom or that of the world. If I can live in such a way that my boys see my passion for God not only in my words or the things I do as a pastor but in our home, in my marriage to their mom, in the way I treat them and seek to reconcile when I have blown it, and in the way I bring the Lord up in everyday conversations, I know they will be miles ahead in their pursuit of God for themselves. A legacy is not something that we decree but rather is the body of work that our lives leave behind for others to follow.

Lord, help me to leave a legacy for my boys that is easy for them to follow and instills in them a passion for You and Your Word. Keep me from being lazy and seeing my home time as my down time. Help me not to give everything I have to those who I minister to but to save the best for my family. Help me to a man like you talked about of the Levites who is more loyal to you than to my own relatives. Amen.
Comments