But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. (Deuteronomy 4:9)
Read: Deuteronomy 4:1-49, Luke 6:39-7:10, Psalm 68:1-18, Proverbs 11:28
Relate: For twenty-two years Timothy Dwight the Fourth was president of Yale. A hundred years later his grandson, TD5, held the same post for thirteen years. Today, Yale has a residential community named after the two Timothies. Then there’s Aaron Burr. He was new York’s third Attorney General, a senator and the third vice president but he will forever live in infamy for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Merril Edwards Gates would be a better representative. He served as president of Rutgers and Amherst as well as being a respected author. Speaking of respected authors, O Henry, writer of The Gift of the Magi along with hundreds of other short stories belongs on the list I am making. Robert Lowell is another much later author who belongs here. Of course I couldn’t leave out the founder of Doubleday press, Frank Nelson Doubleday. If I were to keep this list running it would include over a first lady, a Vice President, 3 Senators, governors, and mayors, thirty judges, sixty-five professors, thirteen of whom became college presidents, and more than a hundred lawyers and missionaries. What is this list? Descendants of Jonathan Edwards. He did an amazing job of passing down to his children the legacy of the blessing of God in his life.
React: II don’t have any kids. I’m single and will very likely remain that way the rest of my days. (Sorry mom, but facts are facts. No grandbabies here until I adopt) That does not mean I do not have a legacy. It may not have been to the same degree as Jonathan Edwards whose “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” sparked the Great Awakening, but I have seen God move in some incredible, amazing ways. I have been part of a church that has seen people coming to Christ every single week from day one right up to the present. I have watched people’s lives be drastically transformed. I have seen healings and I myself have been healed from asthma. Now I am packing my bags and moving on. But as I go, I must be careful to never forget what I have seen. I cannot let these memories escape from my mind, and as long as I have breath in my lungs I must pass on to my generation and the one coming up after me just how great our God is. What has God done in your life? In what ways has serving Him blessed you and your family? What miracles have you seen? Are your children and theirs hearing over and over, almost ad nauseum how good God is and how much He has done for You? We can never proclaim His greatness enough. Every moment of every day is not enough time to tell how great God is and our children and theirs, spiritual and physical, need to hear us tell it. We need to pass it on.
Respond: God, help me to pass You on. Let the change You have done in my life be contagious. Let the things I have done in serving You last and grow into the generations beyond counting. Let Your light shine on and on and on, long after this vessel has crumbled into dust.
THE RIVER WALK 
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Thank you so much for this blog and your heart and writing. It ALWAYS sparks something in me – gets me thinking and praying and of course I love the music too. Thank you!!! It actually sparked me to write a blog post today too! Thank you!
Well done! Really enjoyed it!
Your mom, too? Moms are like that; dads, too. The older we get, the more we think about passing the baton. From our carnal nature, it’s that desire to be remembered. But when I think of some of the great men and women w/in my own memory who’ve passed on–Churchill, Reagan, Helen Keller, Gandhi, MLK–they are only names with a history attached.
I am the legacy of the ones who personally impacted my life–names you never heard of. But I am who I am b/c of their interest and involvement in my life. They never set out to make a mark by giving me goals and hope and a deeper knowledge and relationship with the Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, that’s what lasts.
BJ, your legacy will be. Perhaps many would not call The River Walk legacy material, but it’s encouraging, exhorting, and enlightening many of us out here.
Keep it up. And, your mom loves you. She simply wants your best.
My mom has a valid argument. Seven living kids yet she has no living grandkids. All of us seem to be terminally single.
I started keeping little notes of the times God really came through for me in a great way. Even in the tiny things. It behooves me that God gets involved in the tiniest even trivial details of our lives. I think I’m more wowed in these moments than the spectacular moves of God.
Great message. It’s a good reminder to pass on God’s good and wonderful deeds to the next generation.
Slight Correction: I’m suffering from brain fog this morning. I meant “bewilders” not “behooves”.
Great post!
You continue to leave a legacy each time you put pen to paper. The written word is very powerful, which is why God used it to communicate such truth to us in His word. I like Mother Theresa’s quote – “We are pencils in the hand of a writing God.” Thank you for your willingness to write. – Karen
Well written!
Beejai,
Amen. Great post. God is always present and patient. We may not always pursue Him, but He always pursues us. A wonderful poem validating this is, “The Hound of Heaven,” by Francis Thomas.
My miracle witness: When at the age of ten I witnessed an icon of Mary crying. But, in a unique way. So much so, that has stayed with me vividly to this day.
-Alan
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Great post! I quoted it on my post today: “Tell It, Tell It: Your Christian Story”. Be blessed. Greg