The last few months have left me thinking quite a bit about
legacy. October is a hard month for my family. My mother died on October 8,
twenty-three years ago. My grandfather died October 22 of last year, and this
year, a beloved pastor passed away on October 4. It’s just hard.
But, in the shadow of this sadness, I see this awesome
opportunity God has given us - given me - to leave a godly legacy, to raise a
new generation, and to leave a mark in a different place. And, I am humbled,
grateful, overwhelmed and afraid.
Leaving a legacy is no small thing. It can change the course
of someone’s life. It can change history. And, I have recently come to
understand more fully that an impact can be made in someone’s life thru small
gestures, simple conversations, and short time frames as much as it can within
a lifetime. The issue is what we choose to do with the time we have allotted
with the people God places in our lives.
Take the account of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts
8:26-40. “Now
an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the
south…And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian,
a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in
charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was
returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And
the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to
him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what
you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he
invited Philip to come up and sit with him… Then Philip opened his mouth, and
beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And
as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said,
“See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they
both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And
when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.”
This brief interaction is covered in fourteen verses.
14. Yet tradition identifies this eunuch as the founder of the Ethiopian
church. Just one man.
Last week, in Richmond, CA, we saw examples of this.
Time To Revive led an evangelistic “blitz” in our city called ReviveRichmond.
For five days, teams of people went to different parts of Richmond to pray with
people and tell them about Jesus. Not get them to join a church. Not ask for
money. Not condemn them. Not judge them. But to tell them the good news about a
God who loved them enough to send His son to die on the cross for their
sins. To tell them about a God-Man
who loved them enough to die for their sins. And present the opportunity for
them embrace it. And some did. We don’t fully know what God will do with this.
We don’t know whose lives will be changed. But, I trust that there will be
families who will be turned around because of this time. There are communities
that will be impacted. Who knows, but the entire course of history can be set
on a different trajectory. From just one conversation in just one day in just one week. Just one.
Building a legacy,
Kim
