What Will Your Legacy Be?

Another truly gifted person has left this earth – Whitney Houston.  Last week we took the time to examine our lives after losing Don Cornelius.  This week, as I look at the great memories Whitney left us; I ask myself (and you of course) – what will we leave the world after we’re gone?  It has been said that we will all die, the difference is the legacy we leave behind.

I’ve often said that we were each born with a purpose – some may become famous because of it and others will not – but we were all sent to this earth with a purpose.  To my mind, it appears that we don’t really believe that we have a purpose, hence we live the way we do.  If we believed that we were placed here with a purpose we would certainly live with conviction to be the best that we can be.  When we do small things with great love as Mother Teresa advised us to do, we are sure to leave a legacy.

One of my favorite hymns by Charles Wesley came to mind as I contemplated Whitney’s passing.  The first verse of the hymn reads – ‘A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify.  A never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky.”  The first line says it all – a charge to keep I have.  Please note that the charge (responsibility) belongs to us – to you and to me – to glorify God with our talents.  We were created with gifts and talents which when used to their fullest serve to bless others and glorify God.  Our souls are to be nurtured and prepared for when we are called to face God – because we all WILL be called some day.

The second verse says, ‘To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill.  O may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s will.’  We are to use our talents now – not when things are perfect, or when others recognize us – to fulfill our calling because our present actions will soon become our legacy.  The man after God’s heart – David – was said to have served God’s purposes in his own generation, then fell asleep and was buried with his fathers (Acts 13:36 NIV).  David didn’t wait until his conditions got better, he lived his life daily serving God’s purposes hence we are still reading his legacy thousands of years after his death. What engages all your thoughts/powers/abilities right now?  Are you engaging all your power to fulfill your Master’s will for your life?  Are others being blessed by your talents?

Today as we mourn the loss of Whitney Houston, we also celebrate her life and honor the legacy of the music she left us.  Most of all, we owe it to ourselves to live each and every day of our lives fulfilling God’s purposes for our lives in our generation – here and now.

What will your legacy be?  I’m just thinking . . .