Sandcastles: Creating a lasting legacy

A sandcastle masterpiece lives it's last moments.

The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. –William James

Have you ever made sandcastles in the beach? The wet sand conforms willingly to our master designs and architectural whims, only to be washed away when the tide comes in. The beach quickly forgets that our masterpiece ever existed.

Our lives are often like this. We build temporal palaces only to realize later that they will not last. We are told that we will be on this earth only a short time. We are told to be good stewards. We are told to work at everything as if we are working for the Lord. We are also told that we will have eternal life. So should we be concerned about what we leave behind in this very brief time we have on earth?

Yes, but what we leave behind needs to be legacy not luxury. We must invest what we have in what will provide the greatest return. That means we need to invest in other people. These investments don’t rise and fall with the market, have no relation to any man-made index, and are not susceptible to fire, theft, or loss. This is the influence part of our legacy.

Let’s tackle our first make it count moment.

For what would you like to be remembered?

How are you contributing to that goal right now?

How long will that legacy last?

Now let’s look at the affluence part of our legacy. This does not depend upon how much money or property that you have, but what you do with whatever you have.

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Luke 12:13-21 NIV

What are we doing with the money, things, and opportunities with which God has blessed us? We normally don’t build barns for our treasures these days, so what do we do with what we have? If we get a pay raise, do we buy a bigger car or a goat and two chickens for a starving child in Africa? Do we redo the kitchen cabinets or fill the food pantry at our church. Do we dream of things to do for ourselves once the tax refund check gets here, or do we make plans to use that which we have lived without for a year to help someone whose entire income is less than our refund?

In the realm of legacy, it is truly what we gave that lives on. We must be on guard that we don’t build bigger barns when we should be blessing others.

Let’s try some more make it count moments.

Who will inherit what you leave behind?

Are we just keeping our barns in the immediate family?

With only a month to live, would we bless someone we haven’t thought about yet?

Now comes the obedience part of our legacy. Sometimes we think that this is just following the Ten Commandments. Sometimes we think of consequences for disobedience. Upon reflection we might realize that God gives us much more credit for being able to use the free will that He gave us than we give ourselves. We are supposed to look for opportunities to do good. That is in concert with true obedience.

So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise, but live wisely. Use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. So do not be foolish but learn what the Lord wants you to do.

Ephesians 5:15-18 NCV

Let’s look at our make it last for life challenges.

1. Look at the three areas discussed and give yourself a grade on each one.

2. Influence

3. Affluence

4. Obedience

5. In which area do you struggle the most?

6. Which is your strongest area?

7. What would you need to do—what would your life look like—to get an A+ in each area?

8. Review your calendar for the past month. How much of your time was given to temporary goals?

9. Look over your checkbook and credit card statements. How much of your money was spent on temporary things?

10. How much time and money went to eternal things?

11. What is just one way that you could invest more in an eternal legacy?

12. Write you obituary. Start with the life you have lived so far and then continue it well into the future. Write it the way you would like to be remembered to include the legacy that you will leave in your relationships.