23 Oct Leaving a Legacy
Throughout the course of life, perspective on age changes quite a bit. When you’re sixteen, you feel invincible. When you’re eighteen, you want independence. When you’re thirty, you’re hoping to have made some kind of progress on your goals. Then, when you’re about forty, one word is usually at the front of your mind— legacy. You want to live a life of significance, leaving behind something for those who come after you.
In Joshua 14, we read the story of a man in this position… except he is 85. His name is Caleb. In this chapter, he describes himself as, “as strong as the day Moses sent him out.” So instead of settling into an easier life, he decided to go for more— to finish his race well and leave a life of legacy.
God has promised us all a life of legacy. Acts 2:17 says, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”
Psalm 112:1-2 says, “…Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.”
Why does God give us these promises? Because He wants us to nurture a spirit of legacy that brings us satisfaction and multiplies success among our children. Here’s how we can see those promises fulfilled.
First, we’ve got to live with fight. We see Caleb’s fight when Moses sends him, along with eleven other spies, to scope out the Promised Land. When ten of them came back melting in fear from what they saw, his response was, “The Lord has promised us this land, so let us go and take it.”
As my dad used to say, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” No matter what the circumstances tell us, we can obtain our promise because of Who is on our side.
Second, we have to live by faith. We see this in the story of Joshua and Caleb, too. Because in order to have the courage to fight enemies much bigger than they were, Joshua and Caleb had to have big faith in their God.
We all have to have big faith to see our promises fulfilled. And if we ever feel our faith dwindle, we’ve got to realize— it’s an inside job. If we will keep our thoughts fixed on what God has for us, we’ll keep the fire of faith burning strong.
Finally, to leave a legacy, we must choose to finish. Caleb finished his fight, and he crossed into the Promised Land. If your heart is to leave a life of legacy today, don’t focus on retiring from life… focus on re-firing the flame of passion God has put in your heart. Your life matters; your legacy matters!