Tuesday, July 22: 1Kings 16- What will they write about you?.

Reading the five brief descriptions of these Israelite kings, popped this thought into my head, “What will be written about me when I die?” This thought didn’t grow from an ego point of view.  How will history remember me?  No, I began to wonder how my life will stack up faithfulness wise. Will I be known as a person who sought the Lord, or one who did his own thing? Will greed, dishonesty, chasing after false gods, backstabbing, etc., characterize my obituary as it did for these men?

What will my family and close associates not only say but really think about me when I am laid to rest?

Reading the lives of these men, I realized that I am building my ‘legacy’ and writing my obituary every day I live. You don’t start being a scoundrel when you turn 30 or when you become king… you groom a scoundrel life from early on. David didn’t become a man after God’s own heart when the crown of Israel was placed on his head. He began grooming his love for God when he tended his father’s sheep as a young boy. I am grooming my life today and I started decades ago.

Statistically I have decades still to live, so I can change my legacy for good or for ill. The whisper of God came strongly, “Bill, will you build a legacy that honors Me?...”

Lord, I cry in response, Yes. I will love You. I will serve You. I will live for You. And Lord, this is an every day –even moment by moment decision.

I pray for Holy Spirit fruit to blossom in my life. I pray that my time in Your Word will be the fertilizer to aid Holy Spirit fruit production in my life.

I love you Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit and I bow before You, my Lord and my God! Amen.