What Will you Leave Behind?

What Will you Leave Behind?

Bible: Isaiah 49:14-16

A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured his name (MALACHI 3:16).

A few years ago I spent a week on holiday at an old ranch (a large farm) in America. One day, while exploring the ranch, I came across a grave with a wooden marker. Whatever had been originally written on the marker had long since been worn away. Someone lived and died—and now was forgotten. The gravesite seemed very upsetting to me. After I got home I spent several hours googling the history of the old ranch and that area, but I couldn’t find any information about the person buried there.

They say that the best among us is remembered for 100 years or so. The rest of us are soon forgotten. The memory, like that grave marker, soon fades away. Yet our legacy (what we leave behind) is passed on through the family of God. How we’ve loved God and others in our lifetime lives on. Malachi 3:16–17 tells us, “a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. ‘They will be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘on the day that I prepare My own possession’ ” (NASB). Paul simply says of Israel’s ancient King David that he “served God’s purpose in his own generation” and then he died (ACTS 13:36). Like him, let’s love God and serve Him, leaving behind us His love and kindness for others to remember.

To pray about . . .

Father, please help me to be less worried about making my mark on the world, and more concerned with showing people Your everlasting love. Let the legacy I’m leaving behind be all about You.

LIVING FOR GOD LEAVES A LASTING LEGACY.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries