“When she poured this perfume on my body she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:12-13
There is a lot of talk about leaving a legacy these days. The legacy we leave behind are the memories people will carry with them, and the change we helped to bring about in their lives. As I contemplated this, I wondered how I would be remembered. Would there be fond memories? Would I be missed because of the love I poured into lives? Did I make a difference? Would they know I loved Jesus? Could they see I loved Him enough to let Him change MY life? These and many other questions popped in my head and then I thought, “If people don’t know this about me now, I better make that clear while I still have time.”
Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, lived in the moment when Jesus came to town. She dropped everything to sit with Him. Her love and devotion were evident to everyone who witnessed her actions. It was clear He was important to her. She anointed His feet with expensive perfume. Judas said it amounted to a year’s wages! I love the way God’s Word paints this beautiful picture of a woman who gives her all to the One who she loved so desperately. After pouring the perfume on His feet she wiped them with her hair. Mary left her mark in the world at this moment. Her humble attempt to show her Savior how much He meant to her has been talked about for thousands of years. What a legacy! Thousands of years!
I wonder what I could do to leave such a powerful, long lasting legacy? Jesus isn’t here in human form, so I can’t pour expensive perfume on Him. I can’t literally sit at His feet and take in every word He says. People won’t witness me physically running to Him when a loved one dies as Mary did when her brother died. But they can see if I live out the words I speak about my faith in Him. They can know I am devoted to Him by the consistency of my time alone with Him. They can feel the love and compassion I show toward them in their times of pain and sorrow. Will my legacy die with me or go on in the hearts and words of others?
Your legacy is worth taking the time to make sure people know you love them, Jesus, and others with a love that you can’t conjure up on your own. Give the love that comes from Christ in you. To love through Him is a real, forgiving, true love that cannot be found elsewhere.
I desperately want people to know the love of Christ and it is this LOVE that will draw them closer to Him. Through this kind of love they can experience true acceptance and be comforted in my presence because Jesus is present in me.
I suppose I could write great books, work high paying jobs, give them expensive things, and win prestigious awards. Many legacies have been left in this way, but if the true love of Jesus is not dispersed as I live life what have I really given them? I’ve just left a lot of things that don’t fill an empty heart with hope, joy, peace, love and worth. These can only come from our Savior.
I hope and pray I am leaving a legacy that will be remembered, a legacy that will be followed, and a love that can never be replaced by the world.
Oh Father,
Keep me from selfishly trying to win the approval of those who follow after me. Instead let Your approval be enough for me. Show me how to give them Your love in order that they will be won to Your kingdom. Thank You, Jesus, that I can leave a legacy leading to You, if only I humble myself at Your feet and not because You want me to grovel, but because You want to give me true abundant life. In Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen!