Leave a legacy...
Audio recording here.
Good morning. My name is CN,
minister CCH.
I wonder if you know much about your
forebears? Perhaps you’ve done a DNA test, or you’ve got into ancestry.com.
Perhaps you’ve got an old trinket or a piece of furniture from a distant
relative.
Well I had the privilege this week
to go with my dad and my cousin and his son to the town where my great-grandfather
lived for a special event in his honour. His dad (my great-great-grandfather) was the local postmaster, and he was an
office lad who grow up to be an estate agent and a business man. Amazingly 100
years on, last Thursday a building was being named after him. Quite an honour
for me and my family.
It raises the question, what kind of
legacy would you like to leave? How would you like to be remembered 100 years after
your death?
There will only be very few of us
who are still talked about in 100 years’ time perhaps for some amazing invention
or our involvement in some event of history. Perhaps our grandchildren or
great- grandchildren (if we have them) may know something about us, but mainly
we’ll be forgotten.
It’s not always easy to talk about but Proverbs
talks about leaving an financial inheritance for your children’s children[1], and I recently discovered that if you are able
to leave a financial gift in your will for a charity, not only will they benefit,
but it will give your estate a reduction in tax.
The Bible says in Psalm 103 that we
flourish like the flowers of the field and then we’re gone, but the Lord’s
everlasting love is with those who fear and trust him[2].
My great grandfather left 4
children, 3 grandchildren, 5 greatgrandchildren 13 great-great grandchildren, and
amongst other things a pair of cufflinks, and he’s had a building and a road
named after him.
But it turns out that he was a
Christian man, and he made quite an impact. He built two churches, and wrote a
book about his faith. And not because he is great, but because of God’s
kindness through sending Jesus to be our saviour, he now lives on in God’s
love.
And God is longing to share that
same love with you too.
Thanks for listening. Have a great
day.