Thought for the Month - September 2016

"Remember me when I'm gone" by Barry Adair
(Our legacy)

It just hit me the other day - how will people remember me after I wasn't around anymore? (I had typed "after I had died" but changed it as it sounded so morbid!)

Well, I would like to think that most of my family would have half-decent things to say about me but what about others? What about in my workplace, or in my church, or in my community? What about those over the years who I failed to help along life's pathway?

I remember a teacher at school who had a fearsome temper. A temper I witnessed at close hand on one occasion. However, about a year before he was due to retire, the bad temper was replaced by good humour and smiles. Just now when I think of Old Joe, it is his laugh and funny stories that I remember the most.

"Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you." ~ Shannon L. Alder

Whenever someone talks about a legacy they are usually thinking about money. But the legacy I'm thinking about is the reputation that we leave behind. Did we support our family well? Did we help the needy? Did we tell others about Jesus? Did we honour God? If you, like me, are feeling a little uncomfortable after the last couple of questions, please hold that thought and read on.

Whenever we look at the "great men" (and women) of the Bible we can often see many past failures, poor traits and numerous bad decisions. But one fact jumps out in all their lives. Whenever they allowed God to direct their paths and condition their thinking, their lives suddenly reflected His good purposes and God was honoured in their lives. Like a plant dispersing seeds of new life in the wind, the latter part of their lives were fruitful, passing on "good seed" in encouraging, teaching and reaching out to others who were coming on behind.

The old idiom "live now for tomorrow we die" is usually interpreted as "party hard before you can't anymore". I believe that the Bible would remind us that someday we will all give an account to God of the way we lived our lives before Him.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement." (Hebrews 9:27)

Let us live each day as if it's our last and as someone once said (attributed to John Wesley)…

Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can.
In all the places you can.
At all the times you can.
To all the people you can.
As long as ever you can.

I would also say that if you are reading this Thought then, like me, there is time to honour our Creator God. Make your peace with Him and your peace with others. Ask Him to change you into the man or woman He would want you to be. By honouring God He will also help you to reach out to those around you. For the ultimate legacy, live your life for God's glory and at your journey's end hear those wonderful welcoming words. Well done, my good and faithful servant!

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!