Day 23 – Sandcastles (Nathan Fancher)

I’ve been thinking about the word “legacy”. It’s used a lot in our culture. People talk about wanting to leave a legacy for their kids and their kids’ kids. Every one wants to leave a legacy. Everyone in some way or another will leave one. Some may be good…others perhaps not so good….

I’m glad that Kerry and Chris Shook used the words “lasting legacy” in the chapter’s subtitle. It reminded me of the truth of this life’s outcome. The truth that all eternity will echo the choices I made in this brief breath on earth. All legacies left from an ancestor or predecessor in this age will come to an end. Not all legacies will last.

What exactly will our minds be engaged in remembering in the age to come? Probably not brands like Nike or Pepsi. These names have been around for generations. I wonder if one day they will be forgotten.

The apostle Paul’s passion for Jesus is so inspiring to me. This man suffered and labored so hard for the good news of Christ and the joy of others in that good news. We would all agree that he left an amazing legacy, but the end of that legacy would produce an “eternal weight of glory” because of the centrality of the gospel in his life (2 Corinthians 4:16). Paul did not live for himself or to accomplish his own desires, but he lived with the reality of Christ crucified in his place as his only hope.

Our aim should be for “Christ to be magnified in our bodies whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:19-20). Jesus lifted high should be at the center of the legacies we leave. As we follow, obey, and submit to that which God has uniquely called us to do, we will leave a legacy that is true and lasting.