Reflection on Legacy
If I were to die today - what would my legacy be?
What would people remember? What would I have contributed to society? What would I have contributed to eternity? What would my kids and wife think about me now that I'm gone? Would I leave a large hole in this world? Would I leave people well-equipped to fill that hole? Have I been a good and faithful servant?
When my life, and posts, and writings, and emails, and search histories, and text messages, and private conversations are examined - what will my character, and my integrity look like? What will they see on my now dormant social media feeds? Will Christ look like the most important thing in my life? Or will it look like I was confused about what really mattered? Will I have challenged the thinking of those around me, and helped them understand truth, or will I have been a neutral force in their lives? Will I have lead people well, or will I have allowed myself to be led by fear and comfort? When my bank accounts and spending habits, and giving will be examined - will it be clear what my priorities were? Will it be clear where my treasure was? Will my kids ever wonder if their dad really loved them - or more importantly, if their dad really believed and loved Jesus? Will my wife ever wonder if I really loved her alone - or if my heart was sometimes divided and unsatisfied? Will she remember clearly and fondly how I made hard choices to lead our family on the straight and narrow, and helped push out the clutter that the world pours out to distract us from our mission? Or will she remember a lazy man who often betrayed her trust, and meddled with escape and foolishness to distract himself from his higher callings?
If I were to die today, would it strengthen the faith of those around me, or will it cause them to question the love and plan of God? If I were to die today - would anyone be talking about me in 10 years? 20? 50? 100 years from now, will my great, great grandkids know stories about their great, great grandpa, and be thankful for the foundation he laid for them. Will anything that I am doing today - anything that I am investing in, pouring my heart into, cultivating - will any of that still be around 100 years from now? If so - which things? Most likely, my business will be long gone... but will it have inspired, and spun off multiple successful businesses and entrepreneurs? What about my music? Will these songs, and shows and recordings last the test of time? Will they be listed to or beloved for posterity? What about these rambling writings - prayers, journal entries, thoughts, musings, poems... will these be helping anyone a hundred years from now?
And does it matter?
Does my identity, my reputation, my story, my legacy really matter? Or am I to lose all of this in the preeminent identity of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Would it not be better that my great, great grand children, have forgotten my name, but daily confess the name of Jesus? Would it not be more sweet, that 100 years from now, the generations have forgotten who planted the seed - but remembered the one who made it grow? Would it not be more blessed that my wife and kids remember me to be a flawed, faulty, sinful, prideful man - who's only hope was not in himself, and in his own achievements, but in the achievements of another, who died for him?
If you were to die today - what would your legacy be?
