Our family keeps an oral tradition of famous lines spoken by somebody. Today’s edition comes from Joel, when he was about seven or eight:
“Daddy, when you die, can I have all your tapes?”
++++++++++++++++++++++
I want to be like Abel.
Not so much the rock-upside-the-head part. I’m talking about legacy.
Hebrews 11:4 contains a fascinating description of Abel’s life: “By faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”
Here’s a guy who could be famous for the things he never did:
He never preached a sermon.
He never started a church.
He never wrote a book.
He never engaged in an argument to defend the faith.
He never had his name plastered on the side of a building.
He never had a wife or children, much less succeeding generations.
He never was elected to any office.
He never fought for a cause or a nation.
He never was on TV, or interviewed by the press.
He never had God give him a song (all rights reserved, of course).
He never made a YouTube video.
He never made a financial fortune, that we know of.
He never rescued anybody in distress, except maybe for a sheep or two.
Yet long-dead, Abel still speaks. And so can you and I. It’s what the LifeVesting Principle of Legacy is all about:
I have the power to influence and bless others long after my life on earth is over.
How do you want to be remembered? Two women in Philippi apparently had some sort of disagreement – to the point that Paul tells them, publicly, to put a lid on it. Now there’s a way to get your name in the Bible! Imagine strolling through heaven, introducing yourself to everybody, and this lady says, “I’m Euodia!”
Haven’t I heard of you somewhere before?
Anyway, back to Abel. What is it about this man that gives him a legacy that lives on?
1. The integrity of his heart
Nearly everybody who reads the story of Abel and his angry brother says something about the fact that God respected Abel’s sacrifice because it involved blood and Cain’s didn’t. Just one problem with that – there are plenty of places in the Bible that talk about offerings of produce. (For what it’s worth, we’ve been arguing over form and method in worship ever since, and I’m sick of it.)
Abel’s offering was received because of something in his heart, not something in his hands.
Want to leave a legacy that still speaks? Crowd followers and convenience chasers, consumers and con artists need not apply. Build your life around truth. Live and love with a pure heart. Keep your promises. Be real.
2. The faith in his worship
Whatever else Abel had that Cain didn’t, he believed God. He took what God offered, yielded to who God is, rested on what God said, and acted on what God wanted. That’s faith, and Abel had it. Whatever else Cain did, he didn’t have it.
So what does faith have to do with legacy? Simple. What you believe lives on in the lives of those you influence. And one of the greatest things you can do is point to Jesus Christ through your example, writing, speaking, or most of all, relationships. I got to thinking recently – that amazing expression of truth we call Romans? Years and years after Paul wrote it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a German monk had his life turned around by some simple words there: “The just shall live by faith.” Paul, though dead, spoke life to Martin Luther.
3. The excellence in his service
Here’s the difference between Cain and Abel. Abel offered his best – the “firstlings of his flock” to God. Cain? He offered something. He offered to God what was convenient at the moment. Wasn’t his worst… just wasn’t his best, either.
If your goal in life is to be easy and breezy, you’d better live it up now. But maybe by focusing a bit more on your genius or gifts, by working a bit harder to be the best you can be, by redefining again and again and again what excellence means in your field, you can raise a standard for others to follow. Maybe you can actually continue to speak, long after this life is over.
I have to admit, every time I hear somebody say after someone else’s death, “she lives on in our hearts,” I get a little queasy. The truth is, she lives on in heaven or hell. But there is an element of truth to that statement. When I pass a building on a university campus that bears someone’s name, I am witness to a legacy. When I hear sons describing life lessons from their father, I’m seeing evidence that the father lives on. Whenever someone writes a book, teaches a child, or establishes a charitable trust, they are reaching beyond their lifetime. You have the opportunity to do the same – to impact the world long after you’ve left it. But just remember, legacies aren’t left by staring at the TV or taking the path of least resistance.
Count me in. My body may have already assumed room temperature, taking the dirt nap, grinning at the moon. But I want somebody to know Christ, somebody to change the world, somebody to decide not to quit, somebody to start writing, somebody to be a great parent – because of something I said or did. I want to leave a legacy, and I think I’m willing to pay the price.
How about you?
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I am sure you will get a lot of response from people about the last part of your post for sure. While the rest of the post is great (as usual) and thought provoking (as usual), I wanted to be the first to comment on the last part.
As far as what you want someone to do as a result of your life, I may not fit in the categories listed but I will say this, It is because of you that I have started going back to church. I have been born and raised in church. I know that my mother, stepfather, grandmothers and grandfathers (maternal and paternal) will not want to here that it was because of the web and your since of humor that I am now going and enjoying church again. All of the people listed above are preachers or have been in a ministry of some kind for as long as I have known them. They (most of them) have pushed “religion” on me to the point that they pushed me away from it. Plus everyone I grew up around in church, looked ( as a wise man once said) like they have been sucking green persimmons all day.
Now these are all GOOD people and I am not saying anything bad about them. I just wanted someone to preach to me not at me. I love the fact that you have a teacher’s heart. I go to TP to be educated and lead down the right path, not “preachified” and booted down the road to “righteousness” in there eyes.
That was a very wordy way of saying, thank you for what you do, how you do it and for being there.
kenSwitzer
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