TODAYS BIBLE READING:
 

Concerning one's legacy, Billy Graham said, "The greatest legacy someone can pass on to their children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith." Steve Saint, the son of Nate Saint, one of the missionaries who was martyred trying to bring the gospel message to the Auca Indians in Ecuador, said, "Your story is the greatest legacy that you will leave to your friends. It's the longest-lasting legacy you will leave to your heirs." What the world recognizes and what God recognizes are two different things. Those things which are deemed of utmost importance in the world can be lost, while the things of God last. So many believe they need to be able to provide their household with a nice house, good things, be able to provide a college education, pleasant vacations, a safe retirement, and a good inheritance when they pass. But all of these things can evaporate if things don't happen according to plans. If that is our view of a successful life then it is dependent on things which we have little control over. But living a life of faith cannot be taken away. Setting that godly example to our family, friends, and others will last, no matter what is happening in the world. God has given us in the Bible what a godly person, one who is separated for the things of God, looks like. How we treat others, how we respond in times of stress, how we spend our time and money, etc. Our loved ones and others are watching. What is the legacy we are creating?

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As we move forward in the books of 1 and 2 Kings, we see two recurring phrases throughout the lineage of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. We read in 1 Kings 15:3, concerning King Abijam, "And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David." But concerning King Asa in 15:11, "Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David." Though David certainly had his faults which are openly revealed in Scripture, through it all, he was a "man after God's own heart" and this is the legacy that he passed on. There were many kings of Judah spanning nearly 350 years and each one is compared to the legacy of David. F.B. Meyer said, "How long after David's sun had set did the light of his life glimmer over his house". Because David showed what it meant to love God intensely, to worship God fervently, his legacy continued in his family for generations. As opposed to King David who left a wonderful legacy, we read in 1 Kings 16:25-26, concerning King Omri of Israel, "Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols." In the nearly 200-year history of the northern kingdom of Israel, there was not even one good king. Such was the legacy left behind by their first king, Jeroboam.

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We don't live in a bubble. We are surrounded by people who are watching. What are we telling them by what we say and do? What most need is not a superficial assent to believing in God, but a life that truly depends on Him and leans on Him for our guidance and our sustenance. We, God's children, can show them this and lead them to this. David exemplified this and his legacy carried on for generations. We are writing our own story, what is it saying?