What will you leave behind?

This will be a sober one, guys.  I feel sobered, but also encouraged to action.  We will get drunk off His goodness later.  But for now, let's think about inheritance - not so much what you will inherit, but what your loved ones and the earth will inherit from you.  What will you leave behind when you die, or are taken up in a fiery chariot, or are no longer here cuz you dipped out like Enoch?

Recently, my great aunt passed away.  She lived on the west coast, but was laid to rest on the east coast today.  Her ashes were buried with her husband and son at the  "Gate of Heaven" cemetery in Maryland.  I could do a lot of things with that cemetery name, but that's not entirely the point right now.  Losing anyone, whether a family member, friend, or pet is challenging.  She and I weren't close, but her memorial service had my brain and heart on overdrive.

It caused me to start thinking about the impact I want to leave on the world.  I've thought about this before, but it was more intense today.  How will my family and friends remember me?  Would I have completed my assignment(s) and fulfilled my purposes from the Lord?  Am I currently living with an eternal purpose of continuing revival?  Am I aware that this life on earth is but a breath?

Generations of love to live. (Image via Pinterest)

Of course, when we're talking about death, I always believe the Lord can raise the dead.  Death is not the end, by any means.  It is just a gateway to another place.  But, I'm putting aside faith for resurrections to deeply consider the fruit of a life lived with Christ, full of love and purpose.  Did you love well?  Did I love well?  If we love well, like Christ does, fruit will form a mountain on our burial site.  This fruit won't look like the stuff we're used to eating from the produce section.  But it may look like a bountiful family, a successful business, an abounding non-profit organization, a sustained third-world family, city or nation.  The possibilities are endless.

Image via Pinterest

It will also look like a memorial in heaven.  In Acts 10, a story is told of Cornelius, a God-fearing man but not yet a believer, whose donations to the poor caused the Lord to remember him during his prayer to God.  Peter was sent to this man in response to His prayer, and His entire family had an encounter with the living God and became believers of Jesus.  Should we give to the poor?  Yes.  Will our giving look like this all of the time?  No.  My point is that we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven when we have an eternal perspective, but it also affects this natural world we're living in, too.

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I'm not judging my aunt for what I saw she left behind.  There are many factors that play into family dynamics,dysfunction, etc.  I just started pondering what I want my family to walk in when I'm gone.  I would want my portion of what I added to their lives to help them continue in joy, with love, holding on to the Father's hand as they co-labor with Him to bring Heaven to Earth.  I want their relationships to be healthy, committed, and full of love.  I would want my grandchildren to know that they have a lineage of purpose, a destiny of hope, and the strength and courage to walk it out.

They'll be heroes.  (Image via Pinterest)

But all of these desires begin with how I live my life today.  My friend, Eve, thinks like Jesus in that she sees the end and works her way backwards.  She sees people for how they were created, the purposes they hold, and the value they have, then dismantles anything hindering that glorified image God shows her of them.  I never really knew how she did that.  Or how God did it.  But I'm beginning to understand.

I'm not telling you that there isn't grace for a days of rest or that you can't make mistakes daily.  I'm simply encouraging you to first, get an idea of what you want to leave behind as an inheritance to your family and the world.  Think about how you want to be remembered. Then ask the Lord to help you fulfill these things.

One of my favorite scriptures is Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you... to give you a future and a hope. You do have both a future and hope.  Think about the individual mark you wanna leave on the world.  Let the Lord tattoo it on your heart.  And start living it out today so that you have something to leave behind that makes the world better.

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