Legacy - Pt 3

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. (Psalm 112:1-5 ESV).

God takes small, imperfect things and builds them into a habitation for his glory. We should take courage in our little spheres of influence. Nothing you do is a trifle if you do it in the name of God. He will shake heaven and earth to fill your labor with splendor. Take courage, you build more than you see. The psalmist is so clear in our reading today. Fear the Lord and the result is “mighty offspring.” Our children become great because of the legacy of faith we leave them. Regardless of how that may seem, it is a promise of God. As we continue in this series over the next few days, I am going to show you a few very specific things you can do to insure your children will such men and women. First, fear the Lord and obey Him. Your legacy begins in your heart, in your relationship with God. Our reading says: "How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed." Some of you may be thinking that it is entirely too late for you to influence your children. You have done too much that was too wrong. Can I remind you that the plan and purpose of God is still being written in your hearts and the hearts of your children? It is never too late to build a legacy of faith in your children. I hope that there have been those times in my life with my sons that they have seen the heart of God reflected in my actions. I know there are some conversations we have had that reflect some of the truth I have learned in my personal journey that has “stuck.” Since they are now all adults with lives and careers well established, I have seen one of those principles applied in their lives regularly. The end of the story is much clearer than the beginning. I simply can’t tell you where it began. I know I must have often talked about the need to persevere in life. One of those “proverbs” my Dad taught me and I taught them was: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” At the heart of this is a desire to do the will of God. It may have been applied and taught during a particularly mundane event; but it was apparent. Because of that, the “shortcuts” in life were less desirable. That being said, these simple, mundane things helped to produce men of integrity and passion in life for “doing it right.” That’s something worth giving your children.