Dr. Charles Stanley recently stepped into the presence of the God he loved. I loved to hear Dr. Stanley preach for he never wavered from truth. I watched his life celebration service, and it was obvious he left behind a tremendous legacy. As I watched the celebration, I was struck by the men and women of God who paid tribute to Dr. Stanley. David Jeremiah, Charles Swindoll, Tony Evans, Jim Cymbala, and Franklin Graham were among those giving honor to the life of Charles Stanley. I was moved as I realized that all of these leaders were in their seventies and eighties. Each of them had served God for decades and were still actively serving God. They will each leave us great riches someday. Legacy.
Our desire, while on the earth, should be to give off a sweet fragrance that demonstrates who our precious Lord is. Legacy can leave a sweet fragrance of God long after we are gone.
“So, Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean? Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” – Joshua 4:4-7
Joshua chapter four shares a wonderful story about legacy. God had miraculously helped His people to cross over a tumultuous river Jordan. As the last ones crossed, God had them take twelve stones from the riverbed of the Jordan and use them to build a memorial on the other side. They were to use these “memory” stones to pass down the story to the younger generations. God wanted every generation to hear the stories of who God is and what He has done. Legacy.
Over the years, I have written about the work of God in my life. When I was about to celebrate my sixtieth birthday, I decided to recall places where I journeyed with God and saw His hand at work. For a month leading up to that birthday, I wrote stories of God’s hand on each decade of my life. Via blog, I have also recorded many stories of times in which the Lord’s power was demonstrated in my life and ministry. Legacy.
What “stones” have you recorded so that the younger generations will know what God has done in your life to bring you to this point? Have you written them down so that your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, brothers, and sisters will see how God impacted your life? Today is the day to start. Go back and record when you met Jesus. How did that change you? Record times when God miraculously healed you or provided financial resources when times were desperate. Legacy.
Gaylon and I both are hopeful that we can leave our children some sort of inheritance. It will be small, but we hope to be able to do that. However, we are more concerned that we leave our children with a legacy. We want them to remember parents who walked with God and had stories to prove it! Go ahead and bless your children with an inheritance, but more importantly, bless them with a legacy. Write it down! Start today.