Legacy is something I thought a lot about my senior year of college because I had an opportunity to be a co-coordinator for my fellowship. I'm pretty sure legacy was on the back of my mind from the day I found out in April, both about how I would do a better job than the previous coordinators before me, and live up to the "renown" of the coordinators who have since gone off and done great things for the Lord. As you can probably tell, I still have a lot to learn from Galatians 1:10 (For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.)
But as God works on my heart, it's definitely worth reiterating Pastor Mark's point that legacy is developed over a lifetime of character rather in a moment of inspiration. I really believe that when we go to heaven, we will be able to see how God used our lives to impact others, from the little prayer you prayed over a stranger who was down all the way to your lifelong discipleship of the brother or sister whom you brought to Christ. That spiritual legacy is really what matters, not that we'll really care when we're in Heaven, but really everything else will burn away so why not lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal?
To bring it back to the passage in 1 Samuel 12, I don't think Samuel really needed to justify himself before Israel. After all legacy is a matter between us and God. But I think Samuel used this as an opportunity to use his rapport with the Israelites to remind them and point them back to God. (v7. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers.)
No matter who we are, we have influence with someone in our lives, whether family or friends, coworker or classmate. I think its worthwhile to consider how we may use our existing relationship, and to continue to build a God-glorifying honest relationship, such that they may be pointed to Christ. For me, those are the relationships I built while coordinator with my fellowship, but also the ones I'm building now with my coworkers. My prayer is that God would use me as God used Samuel (1Sam 12:18).
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