I read an article some years ago about some local fishermen who drowned in a river while fishing. What caught my attention was the last sentence in the article. "They were good Christian men." I don't know the men or their ages, but I do know that they left a legacy as faithful Jesus followers. Which gave me pause to consider my own life.
When we are saved we are made perfect in the eyes of God because of His Son not because we are perfect in all of our ways. We all have others' eyes on us. People, I think, are desperate to know that our faith is real. We are living testimonies to that reality. They are looking for proof. That proof is the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in us.
"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." - Galatians 5:22-25
When our mom was saved, the four older children, including me, were skeptical. We knew what she had been like before. So we waited for proof that what she said she was wasn't true. The the old-mom was still there. But time proved to us that the old-mom was no more. That didn't mean that she lived a perfect and sinless life - but the change - the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit - was undeniable. So it could have been said at her passing, like those fishermen, that "She was a good Christian woman."
She, and my step-dad, left a legacy for their children. And so it is incumbent upon us to do the same. My children don't know what I was like before I was saved - but I do. I know that my grandchildren are watching me and Martie as we live our lives. We want to be bridge builders - legacy leavers for future generations pointing them to the Lord. The way, the truth and the life.
I read a poem the other day that brought this home to me. The Bridge Builder - by Will Allen Dromgoole, written circa 1900
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" An old man, going a lone highway, Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim; The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near, "You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day; You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide- Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"
The builder lifted his old gray head: "Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building the bridge for him." End
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So who are you building a bridge for? Or are you just making your own way and have decided by choice or neglect that those who follow must do the same?
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Confess it - Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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