You’ve watch the videos. You’ve read the blog posts. Hopefully, you’ve done some hard evaluation of your life. Now, take some time to tell how God has used this series to change you. Leave a comment, answering this question:
Having gone through this series, what will I now do in order to live in the now with an eternal perspective so that I can leave a Godly legacy?
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
Look at what the Bible says about David (the most respected king of the Old Testament—the first half of the Bible) in Acts 13:36,
“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep (died)…”
What a legacy—he served God’s purpose in his own generation.
That is what God desires of us—that we serve His purpose in our own generation… that we live in the now by turning our intentions into actions and turning our whole heart to Jesus, that we develop an eternal perspective that focuses on what’s important—Jesus. All He asks is that we do it where we are. Not all of us are called to do massive, publicly recognized feats. Most of us will be called to serve God’s purpose in quiet ways that most people will never know about… but it will make a lasting impact for the kingdom of God in the life of those people who did see and experience Jesus through you. That will be the legacy that we leave. When our last 30 days are up, we’ll have fought the good fight, we’ll have finished the race, we’ll have kept the faith.
Live in the now. Turn intentions into actions. Develop and live out an eternal perspective that focuses on Jesus. Say what God wants you to say. Do what God wants you to do. Live as God wants you to live. Leave a Godly legacy. Sounds like a great idea if we knew that we only had 30 days to live.
Who knows? We just might.
What are we waiting for?
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
If we want to leave a Godly legacy, we’ll say what God wants us to say, we’ll do what God wants us to do, and we’ll live how God wants us to live.
Look what Paul wrote at the end of his life—and while in a damp, dark prison awaiting certain death—in the Bible book of 2 Timothy 4:6-8,
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness…
Now that’s a legacy.
Paul could look back on His life and see one thing: Jesus. In his 30 years of ministry, Paul had planted churches for Jesus. He had introduced a ton of people to Jesus. He issued stern but loving reprimands to some of those churches for Jesus. He suffered greatly for Jesus. He experienced physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual pain for Jesus. His life reflected Jesus—he said what he needed to say, he did what he needed to do, and He lived as God wanted Him to live.
Paul’s legacy could be summarized in one word: Jesus.
If we had 30 days to live, what words would summarize our life to this point? Driven… outspoken… loving… self-centered… selfish… gracious… kind… passionate. If someone close to you were to describe your life in a few words, what would they say—and would you be embarrassed to hear it? What do we need to give to Jesus to change so that our lives reflect Him? What sins are we playing around with that we need to kill? What about our lives must be transformed so that we, like Paul, can say at the end of our final 30 days whenever they may be that we’ve fought the good fight, we’ve finished our race, we have kept the faith—we’ve given absolutely everything for Jesus?
Think about it—that’s what Jesus did for us. He said what God wanted Him to say—he preached the good news of the kingdom of God (of which He himself was the centerpiece). He did what God had him to do—he preached the gospel, he showed compassion to the sick and the dead, he actively loved the unloveable social rejects by simply hanging out with them when no one else would. He lived how God wanted Him to live—the life we could not live, a life without sin… so that He could die the death God wanted Him to die, on the cross for our sin. He suffered through the horrific physical pain. He suffered through the unimaginable spiritual pain. He took our sin on Himself. He took our punishment on Himself. He did the time for our crimes. Three days later, God raise Him from the dead. 2,000 years later, we are His legacy—imperfect people forgiven by God because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The question for us, then is this…
How shall we now live?
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
If we want to leave a Godly legacy, we’ll say the words God would have us to say. But we’ll also do what God wants us to do. Look at what the apostle Paul (the dude who went from murdering Christians to planting churches and writing most of the New Testament—all because of Jesus) said to a group of church leaders as he faced an uncertain future in the Bible book of Acts 20:24,
“…I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
Paul wanted nothing more than to fulfill the purpose and plan God had for his life—to plant churches and introduce people to Jesus. At this point of his life, he wasn’t finished yet.
What is our unfinished assignment from God? For me, it’s to raise my family to love and follow Jesus; to plant more micro-churches so that more people can be introduced to Jesus; to mentor and equip leaders to plant new micro-churches and to oversee our network of churches. As far as I know, I’ve only just begun. Jesus still has work for me to do. But since I don’t know when my time will be up, I have to continue to do what God wants me to do.
What about you—what is your unfinished assignment from God? If you’re a part of the Discovery Christian Church community, it may be to help plant a new micro-church in our network. It may be to drop everything in the States to go make followers of Jesus in a culture completely unknown to you right now. It may be to drop everything and make followers of Jesus on your street. It may be to develop a heart for and serve a certain segment of the population that is often ignored. Whatever it is, it will stretch you, it will pull you out of our comfort zone, and it may be something that you’ve sworn you’d never do. It may be big; it may be small; it’s all important to God; it’s all an integral part of his plan.
What’s your unfinished assignment that God has called you to do?
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
If we’re serious about leaving a godly legacy, then we’ll live in the moment (we’ll turn our whens into nows, we’ll turn our intentions into actions, and we’ll turn our whole heart toward Jesus), and we’ll develop an eternal perspective. If we’re serious about those things, then we’ll do three things that make it absolutely clear to those around us that we’re not interested in simply passing through life.
First, as we live in the moment with an eternal perspective, we’ll say the words God wants us to say. Look at what the Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:20-24, as the author pleads with his child to heed his words,
“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
The author tells his boy, “Pay attention—this is what I want you to know above everything else. It will affect your entire life.”
All of us have words of life that we need to speak to someone—words that, if we knew we would be gone in 30 days, we would say. For some of us, those words would be, “I forgive you” to that parent, sibling, friend, or spouse/former spouse that hurt us. We need to say those words because forgiveness is the only way to break the cycle of bitterness and the only way to clear the rubble so that the relationship can have any possibility of continuing (even if it is with scar tissue). For others of us, those words would be, “I love you” to a child, spouse, parent, or friend that is hurting and in need of grace. For others of us, those words would be, “I care for you, and I want to tell you about Jesus” to that person we care about that doesn’t know Jesus. It may be something else—an encouraging word, even a stern (yet humble) rebuke to someone who’s fallen into sin and needs to be turned toward Jesus.
What are the words God wants you to say?
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
What do you think of when you hear the names Abraham Lincoln and Adolf Hitler? Both of these individuals have something in common: a well-known legacy. Lincoln left a memorable, noteworthy legacy: he guided our nation through the Civil War, which ended slavery in the states. Hitler left a notorious legacy of horror through the murder of millions in the Holocaust. Both will forever be remembered, for better or for worse. Their actions, whether noble or terrible, left them with a legacy.
Out of all the people who’ve ever lived and whoever will live, a scant few will make it into the footnotes of history much less the pages of history (and rare is the person who reads footnotes). Chances are, most of us won’t make it into the footnotes of history when we die. When we die, all but a few hundred at best will know we are gone. The rest of the 6.5 billion + will never know we existed.
Yet, that doesn’t prevent us from at least wanting to make some kind of mark on the world.
We want to leave some kind of legacy that goes beyond a sum of money handed down to a few heirs, who’ll probably blow it anyway.
We want to be remembered by someone for something.
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
So how do we develop an eternal perspective?
One word: Jesus.
Jesus had an eternal perspective like no other, because He has existed from eternity past (don’t think about it too hard—you’ll get a migraine). But for those 33 years on earth, He had an eternal perspective—our eternity. Look what the Bible says in Hebrews 12:1-3,
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us (the people who lived in faith with an eternal perspective before us who are now with Jesus), let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right had of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
On the cross, Jesus had our eternity in mind. He endured the horrific pain, the punishment from God so that we could be reunited with God forever. He is the key to developing and living out an eternal perspective.
In 100 years from now, when there will be all new people, only Jesus will truly matter. What we did with Him during our life will matter. The legacy we leave behind will be important, because it affects future generations. To live with an eternal perspective, we need to focus on Jesus so that we may discern between the urgent and the truly important.
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
An easy way to determine if something is truly important is to put it to the 100 years test. Try it:
Hopefully, you get the point. If it won’t matter in 100 years, then it won’t really matter in the next 30 days—no matter how emotional we get about it at the time. But if it will matter in 100 years, then it will matter for eternity. And if it matters for eternity, what are we waiting for? What’s keeping us from making what’s truly important truly important right now?
We must live with an eternal perspective so that we may live in the moment.
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
The apostle Paul (the dude who planted lots of churches and wrote most of the New Testament) knew all about what was truly important. In his life before becoming a sold-out follower of Jesus Christ, Paul took pride in his family history, his education, his public position, and his almost insane enthusiasm for God. But after becoming a Christian, look what Paul thought about those things in the Bible book of Philippians 3:7-8,
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…
“Rubbish” is a rather sterile and nice way to translate the actual word Paul used. He dropped the s-bomb. He considered all the things that he thought were important to be a big, steaming pile of… you know what. What was truly important above everything else was knowing Jesus Christ. Paul could live in the moment because he had an eternal perspective. He focused on what was truly important.
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4-5
Why is it that we live in the “when” and have good intentions instead of living in the now with good actions?
Because we’ve confused the urgent for the important.
For example, you get home from work, heat up some Chef Boyardee for the family, and rush out the door because of little league. We stress out because our premium channel cable bill is due the day before payday. We get all bent out of shape because we come home to find that your kids have wrecked the living room, leaving it in worse shape than a steel cage triple threat death match. All of these things are urgent.
But are they really important?
What happens when we confuse the urgent for the important? It snowballs on us—we get grumpy when we’re late, we get stressed when a bill is late, and we blow up at the kids. We lose perspective. We forget the difference between the urgent and what’s truly important. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the urgent stuff still needs to get done—we need to pay our bills, keep appointments, etc. But some of the urgent, when we step back, isn’t so urgent. And when the urgent becomes the focus of life, the important soon becomes unimportant, unnoticed, and undone. Our lives get out-of-whack, and we wonder how and why everything unraveled.
We need to turn our whens into nows, our intentions into actions, and our whole hearts toward Jesus. But it’ll never happen until we live with the right perspective—the eternal perspective. It helps us to differentiate between the urgent and truly important.
