Living a legacy
My 7-year-old son Landon said: “Tell me about heaven, Mommy.” For such a young one he is inquisitive about God and aspects of what heaven will be like. My heart just melts when he loves to hear the things of God.
Landon is our youngest son. He has blond hair, sparkling blue eyes and a face full of speckled freckles. He often doesn’t sleep well at night, but he quickly relaxes and settles down when we discuss what it will be like when he meets our sweet Jesus face to face.
Discussions of God and our relationship with him are natural occurrences at our home and have been since our boys came out of the womb. Our biggest desire is to show our children who Jesus is, how much he cares and how he loves us.
It hasn’t always been that way though. For the first few years of our marriage we were very “me minded.” We both had head knowledge of the supremacy of God, but insignificant heart change. Once our first son was born, our whole outlook on life was suddenly and drastically altered. We wanted to “live a legacy” in sharing Jesus.
A legacy is a gift by will (a bequest), (to bequeath), or to hand down something of great value.
We wanted our son and future sons to grow up loving Jesus. We knew it was our job as their parents to train them in that. This process wasn’t going to happen by simply sitting in a pew on Sunday mornings; we had to make life changes.
It was time for us to take seriously the roles we play in this life in reflecting the light and love of God. No more closet Christians for us; we were going to live our faith out loud. If we loved Jesus, then those around us should know it. “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deuteronomy 4:9
We are not perfect in our quest by any means. There have been many times we have missed the mark of the example we wanted to show. But, in raising our boys, we want them to know AND live the fact that this life isn’t all there is. We want them to be kingdom and eternally minded; realizing what they do or don’t do in this life has eternal implications.
Dear friends, this life we live is a speck of time. It’s merely a grain of sand. When our lives are over, this time on earth will be a mere blip on the radar screen. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Beloved, when we die, our souls will live on eternally, either in heaven where we will forever be in the presence of God, or in hell forever separated from God. For some, this is hard to swallow, I realize, but it is no less true. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 states, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
Friends, I love you and care for you too much to “tickle” your ears. Time is too short and we need to seize the day for God while we have the opportunity. Philippians 2:10-11 says, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The day is coming sweet friend. Our face-to-face appointment with God has been set in the eternal date book since the beginning of time. Are you ready? This is the day to begin living a legacy; a legacy of loving Jesus with all your heart and soul. You will NEVER regret it! In this, may the whole world know that Jesus loves us so.
-- Andrea Sharp is a South County resident. Contact her at andrea@appleofhiseyeministries.com.
