Faith

Never too late to Leave a Legacy

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“If we knew how great the grandkids would be we’d have had them first!” some people say. For a parent exhausted and discouraged by years of struggling with just getting it right for a day, even one hour of grandparenting can feel lile the balm of Gilead! What can be more refreshing than pushing your granddaughter on a swing or holding your grandson’s hand as you crunch through Autumn leaves? But unlike the sense of never ending and overwhelming responsibility that being a parent brings; grandparenting comes wrapped in the sweet sadness of knowing it may not be for long.

I have lived enough to know that one day this time will pass and I will no longer be here with them. No amount of hugs or kisses can change the calendar or slow the pendulum of life’s clock. But what I can do today is to be sure of what legacy I leave behind. Will I leave them a list of my fears and frustrations or will I pass on to them my faith? Will they weep and say, “Grand-dad went to be with the Lord” or will they have His peace knowing that my life has been wholly His? What a great hope lies before us! We can still leave behind a great legacy…not that we lived trouble free but that through every mighty storm He has been our mighty Savior!

Never too Soon to follow Jesus

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Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”  Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mark 10:20-21

Lot’s of us see this passage only as a sad reminder of the power of riches over faith in the life of this rich man. But the word also tells us that when Jesus looked at this man – He loved him. Jesus saw a young man who had chosen not to follow his friends in lying or cheating or to follow the example of adults who worshiped other gods.Jesus saw in this young man a faith that caused Him to pause. This first half of the story carries with it an important message – It is never too soon to follow Jesus. We do not need to wait till we grow up, hold an advanced degree in Yada-yada-yada or impress the civic leaders of our community. There is no moment more crucial to our journey of faith than youth. Just as Jesus was angry with His disciples when they tried to hinder children from coming to him so He loved the heart of this young man who firmly stood up for the things that He believed in.

Sadly, many of us give lip service to our youth when we say – “These are the church of tomorrow” But in the eyes of Jesus our youth are the church right now. Right now they have the greatest and most crucial decisions to make. Right now their testimony can make the most powerful impact on the world around them. Right now if we will look at them with the eyes of Jesus Christ and

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love them, we must give them the same opportunity that Jesus gave to this man. Right now it’s time to trust God to call our youth to take up the cross…and our job to equip, pray for and support them as they  sell out for Jesus Christ! Maybe this young man in the gospel of Mark was a future Paul. It could be that hard circumstances later on caused Him to return to the faith and calling of his youth. We will never know that till we get to heaven. But the call to the youth of our generation is not annulled by the failure of one young man who chose to turn away. Remember that for every one who sadly walks away from God there are eleven more willing to say “Yes!” to His call. It is never too soon to leave everything for Jesus and yet it is also never too late to take up our cross and follow Him!

Today’s Service

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In my quiet time this morning it was as if God held up a mirror to show me how little I valued those moments compared to Him. Yes I lingered for a brief prayer and spent time in His word; but all the while the wheels of my mind were sprinting ahead towards my future plans. Yet as the apostle Peter points out to us –

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 3:8

We all too often lose the value and purpose of the moment of prayer and quiet because the hurry within our hearts drowns out the still small voice of God. We demean the intimate contentment with the Lord Jesus as if something later in the day or tomorrow or next year has more value in His eyes.

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But God delights in the moment. He rests in it as Jesus rested by the well. He has no sense of hurry or fearful anxiety of urgency.

He is never forced into action in a crisis. He rests in the moment like a butterfly who happily enjoys each flower without wishing He could hurry on to the next. He is not only the way and the truth – He is also like the clock of life itself and all time stands still in His presence. There is neither tomorrow nor yesterday with Him. He is the Great I Am! Whatever humble word, shy smile or simple sacrifice Jesus gives us for today is more precious to Him than any act of service we are planning for the future. The God who knows the beginning from the end also knows our hearts. If we will simply walk with Him by faith in this moment, His promise is that He will walk with us all down through the corridors of eternity!