Week 35 - Legacy

“Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” Psalm 127:3-5a

I have given a lot of thought to the idea of legacy lately. According to this passage, children are a heritage, or an inheritance from the Lord. When I think of an inheritance, I think of valuable items that one gives over to the stewardship of another, with the trust that the steward would take care of those things for which he/she did not work. It is a reflection of those things the grantor considers precious.

It seems to me that this verse is often lost to those tasked with the role of parenting. In the weeks that have gone by, we have taken classes on pregnancy and childbirth. We have selected names, colors and furniture. We have gone thru checklists of “absolute” newborn necessities. We have been bombarded with coupons for diapers and formula, offers for cord blood banking and life insurance. However, in all of the preparations, all of the classes, and the plethora of emails and websites, not one has mentioned the importance of preparing to leave a legacy.

Think about it, God considers children “arrows in the hands of a warrior”. This isn’t a warm and fuzzy analogy. It reflects preparing a weapon to be released from a warrior’s hand in order to serve a particular purpose – to do battle. As followers of Christ we are sorely aware that God is allowing us to bring a child into an ever changing, sinful, complex world. We are cognizant of the fact that this child will face challenges that we never deemed possible. There will be insults, misunderstandings, and quite possibly persecution. Our role is to help prepare our precious “arrow” for battle.

True, we may coo, and cuddle (and we will). We may take untold numbers of pictures and videos (and we will). However, the “thing” that will drive us will be to leave a legacy of godliness. Our heart is that this child will know not only that s/he is loved by us, but loved infinitely more by the God who created him/her. Our desire is that we will care for our inheritance well, being earthly reflections of who God is and how it looks to have a true relationship with Him through Christ. We pray to be great (though far from perfect) stewards of the reward entrusted to us, with the prayer that when the time comes to release the “arrow” to the world, God will find him/her ready to do battle – and that they will hit their targets!

By His Grace Alone,

Kim