Legacy

Daily Reading: Revelation 14-15

Scripture Focus: And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14.13)

Devotional Thought: Wilma first came to church as a young girl on a bus.  She experienced the love of Jesus, embraced the gospel message, and her life was changed.  And she never got over it.  For over fifty years, she served as the lay director of the children’s ministry at her church.  It was her way, she said, of “giving back.” 

At the age of 83, she felt the time had come to step away.  She wanted to continue to work with the preschoolers, but believed someone younger with fresh ideas should take over the leadership responsibility.  To celebrate, the church had a “Legacy Sunday” where they loved on her, had her family travel in from across the country, and had a number of recipients of her ministry from over the years share reflections and memories.

Revelation 14.13 says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord … (for) they will rest from their labor (and) their deeds will follow them.”  To followers of Jesus who were embattled and persecuted—as was the case with those who were the original recipients of the book of Revelation—these were words of tremendous encouragement.  They remind us of the power of legacy.

Legacy is not so much about the organizations we build as it is the lives we impact.  Look at Jesus—he didn’t build an institution but, rather, poured himself into a few men who carried out his message and went on to change the world.  Just as Jesus shaped the disciples, Barnabas helped to form Paul, and Eli guided the young Samuel, so there are people God wants us to help mold and fashion.  We can, like Wilma, leave a legacy.

John Whitsett

Prayer: Heavenly Father, continually remind me of the fact I am to be a legacy builder.  In your grace grant that when I rest from my labor, my deeds will live on.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 104.1-9

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.

3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind;

4 he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.

8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.

9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.