8 more weeks. Graduation looms ahead of me, and it reminds me of how soon I shall be embarking upon the Race; September, I’m sure, will come quickly. Yet, as I look forward towards being done with college and starting the next chapter of my life, I look into the past as well. I contemplate how my time has been spent, and what I want to be true of my life. I think of what I want to define my life. There’s a song I often listen to, called Legacy.
Defn. Legacy: something transmitted, handed down or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.
What will they say when I’m gone,
In words that are written in stone?
Under my name, what will they claim about me?
Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered.
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life.
And will the world see Christ
When they look at my life?
Oh, will the world see?
It’s something I’ve been mulling over as I watch my time here at Madison come to a close. I don’t want this to come off as a prideful thing, because I don’t see it as that. I don't mean that I want people to remember me, my name, my accomplishments. In truth, it’s not about me, or my name specifically. It’s about continuing the name of Christ, about furthering the kingdom. Has my life impacted those around me? Has it pointed them towards the cross and the truth of Jesus? Did I use these years wisely? Am I allowing the Lord to use me?
2 Timothy 2:2 says, “And the things you [Timothy] have heard me [Paul] say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” Do you see this web, this network, this ever-growing intricate system? Paul entrusted the gospel to Timothy, with the expectation that he would then pass it along. We, too, have been entrusted with much. We have been given the same directive that Paul gave Timothy. And we only get one life to live it out. When we do? Great things happen. The web grows; it crosses boundaries of both space and time. We leave a legacy for those around us, who pass it on to others.
Oftentimes, I find it hard to focus on the present time at school when the future seems so much more bright and shiny. I look forward to the Race with anticipation, and of course it excites me. Yet I must remember that the here and now is not arbitrary. There are still things to be done, not to be cast aside as meaningless. There are still relationships to cultivate, people to love on, words to be spoken.
I know that I want my life to be defined by the cross. I want the world to see Christ. I desperately desire to be a history maker. I want to take risks in the power of the Spirit that out me as a follower of Jesus. I want to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and for that love to permeate every pore of my existence. If anyone was to say anything about me, I want it to be that I was filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. That's my greatest desire.
What will your legacy be?
Here's the song, if you care to listen to it:
