Do you ever wonder what will be said about you when you're gone? How will people remember you? Will their words be kind? Will you be missed? Or, will there be a sigh of relief that you're no longer around?
There are people throughout history who have left behind a legacy, both good and bad. I want to look at three who are in the Bible. The Words of the Lord are going to last forever, and what is written about these three men will forever be written for all to read.
The first man is Demas. Demas is mentioned around 64 AD in the book of Colossians. Colossians 4:14- Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.
Demas is mentioned with the Apostle Paul. He went around helping to build churches and start the church age with one of the greatest missionaries of all times! He hung out with the right crowd. He worked in the right ministry. He had the right Bible.
But, when he is mentioned in II Timothy around 66 AD, Paul had this to say about him- For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; (II Timothy 4:10a).
What happened? In two short years, Demas went from travelling with Paul and Luke to having that legacy. Somewhere along the way, Demas allowed something in the world to get his heart. He started to love the world more than he loved Christ- that is his immortal legacy.
The next man is only mentioned once in the Bible. III John 1:9- I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
If you read farther down in the verses you'll see that Diotrephes not only kept the Apostle John's letters from the church, but he also forbade the members to have fellowship with certain Christians.
We don't know what position he held in the church, but we do know that he was a proud man. He thought he had the right to tell other Christians who they could and could not hang around. He thought he knew better than the Apostle John. He wanted to be the leader.
The Bible uses the word "preeminence". Colossians 1:18 says that Christ is suppose to have the preeminence in all things! For all eternity, everyone will know that Diotrephes loved himself above Christ.
The last person is David.
Everyone likes to remember David's sin, which will be forever in the words of God, but, David also killed Goliath!
Goliath was a giant around 9 feet 9 inches tall who wore brass armor and defied God and the armies of Israel. No one in all the Israelite army had the courage to go up against this beast of a man, not even the king!
But, David, a simple shepherd boy, knew what God was capable of. He knew that God would give him the victory because he had trusted God to help him when a lion and a bear had come after his flock. He knew that if he went in the power of God, that God would give him the victory.
I Samuel 17:46- This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcass of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
Despite what everyone was saying and despite what the circumstances looked like, David put his trust in God.
David had every reason to let someone else handle this situation. He was only there to bring food to his brothers. He wasn't in the army. He was only a shepherd boy, a child. And yet, he was a man after God's own heart. He loved the Lord will everything he had and that would be what people remembered most about him. All the kings that followed were compared to David and how he followed God with a perfect heart.
I Corinthians 8:3- If any man love God, the same is known of him.
Will you be the one that quit because they found something in the world that they thought was worth more than a ministry with Christ? Will you be known as the prideful Christian who hindered others in their walk with Christ? Or, will you be known as person who loved the Lord with all their heart and followed Him despite the circumstance, despite their own short comings, and despite what everyone is thinking or saying?
What will your legacy be?
