A Legacy
By: Peggy Thompson, Junior Church teacher, Victory Baptist Church, Bloomsburg
A legacy is something you will leave behind after departing from this world. It is a memorial of who you were in this life. What did you leave behind that will live on after you are gone? It may be our character or our monetary gain or both. Good or bad, it is something we will be remembered for. What we valued is reflected in how we lived. How are you living? How am I living? We only get this one life to live here on earth, and I want mine to count for something that will impact others for eternity.
I was at a funeral a few years ago, and there was a testimony time offered by the pastor. This was a time when those present were invited to say something about the deceased. His widow and two teenaged daughters sat quietly in the front pew. A well-dressed man raised his hand. The pastor acknowledged him, and the man said, “I did not know Mr. Jones well. I only met him once or twice. But I can tell you that he was a man of character whose legacy will live on in a marvelous way. I know this because of his young daughters sitting there. I have had the privilege of being their teacher at the Christian school they attend. They were and are a welcome ray of sunshine.”
After he sat down, others followed with similar testimonies of the life that this godly man lived. All I could think about was that people do not have to know you personally to know the legacy you leave behind. I had never thought about it quite that way before. There were many of us there who knew the person who had gone to be with the Lord. We all knew what a kind and gentle man he was. Most of all, we knew he loved Jesus, his Lord and Savior.
When his two daughters stood up in front of that packed church and began to sing, “Let The Blood Of Calvary Speak For Me,” a hymn selected by their father as he had planned his funeral, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind about that relationship. To think that, knowing he was not long to this earth, he made sure he would send a message to all who might attend the service, was amazing. He was handing the baton to his children, trusting that his convictions would live on for generations.
How I wanted to make sure that someday my legacy would be worth leaving behind! I knew it would be, if I walked close to Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Jesus left us the greatest legacy there could ever be. It has lasted over two thousand years. He set an example that we need to strive to follow. He taught us the only way to have everlasting life was to accept the payment He paid on that old rugged cross. He rose again that we may live eternally. Trust Him, and obey Him. It is the only way.