Restore your legacy
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90 verse 12 NIV
Some people are famous and get remembered for great things they have accomplished in their life. They have a legacy of success. Names like Churchill, Roosevelt and Nelson evoke memories of the battles they won. Names like Senna, McIlroy and Pele evoke memories of sporting victories. Over people are infamous, and their names evoke memories of the evil atrocities they committed. Names like Hitler and Stalin are associated with a legacy of evil. Your name may not go down in history books, but there will be people who remember you. And how you live now will determine the kind of legacy you leave for them to remember you by.
The dictionary defines Legacy as a gift or a bequest, which is handed down from one person to another after they die. When we think spiritually, our legacy is what we hand down to future generations when our time on earth is gone. It could be material possessions, money we had saved up over the course of our life, a house for them to inherit or a family heirloom. Or it could be something of far greater value. We could hand down a legacy of faith. We only have a limited number of days on earth, so it is vital that we use our time wisely. That is what this season of prayer and fasting has been about – resetting our minds, restarting our walk with God, growing in intimacy and pressing deeper into a relationship with Jesus through being intentional about how we use our time.
What if, rather than spending our life in the pursuit of money and trinkets to pass on to our children when we die, we spent it building up a legacy of faith? What if we invested into our relationship with Jesus to such an extent that at the end of our lives we could echo the words of Paul, saying to our relatives “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11 verse 1 NIV).
To be able to say that with sincerity is to have lived a life worth living. To be able to show those who will carry on after your time on earth is done an example they can follow which is modelled after the example of Jesus is to have spent your time on earth wisely and is a legacy worth leaving. Take the lessons you have learned from God during this season of prayer and fasting and apply them to your life for the rest of this year. Continue the habits of prayer and bible reading that you have restarted, and maintain the reset attitudes that have come from focusing your eyes on God, then you can leave a restored legacy that goes beyond this season of prayer and fasting as you make this a year where you continue growing in your relationship with Jesus.
Prayer focus
Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight to you lessons to take forward from this season of prayer and fasting into the rest of the year. Spend time asking God to show you areas in your life where you still need to reset, restart or restore.
