Sunday, January 7, 2018

Creating a Legacy

Creating a Legacy
January 8, 2018
1 Chronicles 29:18 "And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided."

A legacy is not just how people remember you, but what you left behind and how it still changes people's lives after you are long gone. Recall some famous people in history and how you remember them. Many of them are just famous for something they did, but the actions of some are still affecting your life today. Think of Thomas Edison, the famous inventor. His inventions are still impacting your life right at this very moment (the light bulb and the telephone). Or think of Abraham Lincoln; his actions kept the United States from splitting, and as a result freed so many people, abolishing slavery. Some of us don't readily think of King David still affecting our lives today, though we know he was critical in the lineage of Jesus. He did something though, that was worth of an amazing legacy.

King David set about to build a temple, a place to worship the Lord in a permanent building. The Lord wouldn't allow it though, saying he could only plan for it, not build it in his lifetime. So David created a plan and provided for the temple, to be built after he was gone. David drew up the plans, assembled the resources, and taught his successor how to finish it. It was an elaborate plan that could only be executed after he was gone, something not able to be accomplished while he was alive. Then after  he had provided for it, making all the arrangements, he prayed for his son. He prayed for strength and dedication for his son to complete the task. He prayed for wisdom and favor for his son to finish the task. It seems so simple, yet the heart of David was so amazing in the preparations of his legacy. Some think of David's legacy as defeating the giant, or a mistake with someone not his wife. But one of his biggest legacies was in created the first house of worship. That house of worship became the design and model for hundreds of years after that, the design and model that was where Jesus worshiped and ministered. That same model was used by the early church, incorporating what they knew when setting up the first Christian churches. 

It was just a building, technically, but a central house of worship for the community of believers. It was a house of prayer and a meeting place with the Lord. While a building is not required to meet with the Lord, it is often a pivotal place for encounters with our God. You've had many encounters with the Lord, I'm sure, with a significant amount of them in a building used for worship. Again, its just a building, but it is part of David's legacy, affecting our lives today. And the point is not that he set up a building, but that he put in place a work to be done after he was gone. 

In considering your own life, are people going to remember you when you are gone? In considering your own life, are you going to have a lasting impact for years to come, after you are gone? In considering your own life, are you setting up a work to be accomplished, making preparations for it to commence after you? Are you preparing those who would follow in your footsteps, carrying on the torch of your marathon, mentoring them, praying for them? David's actions proved his life was not about him, but the one whom he served. You have this same opportunity, is your life about yourself or are you putting something big in motion, so big that it must carry on after you, a real legacy?

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  2 Sam 7, 1 Chron 28

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