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The Legacy
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The Legacy
As I entered a gas station, I heard the voice of an older man. I saw a young woman turn off a tape recorder. I asked what she was listening to. She was listening to a tape of her deceased great-grandfather's life. He had left the family a tape telling the story of his life.
She was kind enough to tell me a little about his life. He had spent his life in the woods of Michigan. His father was a railroader and he tried that profession. He switched to chopping wood pulp. He spent his entire life logging. He met his bride at a logging camp when she was just 15. They stayed married until she passed away in her 70's. He said he had a good life.
He told story after story of events that happened in those woods. He logged in the summer and trapped in the winter. He trapped beaver and shot deer. Once, in the logging camp, he looked around and counted 450 deer around him.
He told a story about a group of men that visited a cabin every year to "party." They told their wives they were deer hunting. Instead they had a party. Her great grandfather was an entrepreneur. He would shoot a deer for them and they would pay him enough to feed his family all winter.
He told a story about having to trudge through the snow to tell a family that a loved one had passed away. He said a pack of wolves followed him the entire time. They never attacked.
He lived through the depression. During the depression he made $3.50 a week. It fed his family.
The stories were charming and funny. They certainly painted a picture of the times and the countryside. As the granddaughter described it, I could picture it. I looked around and in my imagination, the storefronts melted away. I saw a rough rugged country and a rough rugged man taming it.
I kept waiting for the wisdom he had passed on to his great granddaughter. I finally asked if he mentioned his spiritual relationship or God. She said no. She said she didn't know what he believed and he never went to church. Her words were that he didn't really believe in the God stuff."
I asked her what she believed and she didn't know either. She has no church and doesn't have a relationship with God.
She has continued the legacy her grandfather left her. She loves land. She works hard. I met the man she is in love with. They seem committed. I enjoyed talking with her.
Picture 3 generations from now. Her children's children will probably still live and love the land. They will have the same legacy. They will have a good life but not an eternal one. They will have a productive life but a life that doesn't experience the joy that is possible. This joy wasn't modeled to them so they don't even know to seek it.
One of the commandments tells us not to worship idols. Idols are anything earthly that we make more important than God. The words after this commandment have always seemed harsh to me. They may be harsh but, sadly, they get played over and over again. Children do what they are taught.
"You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me."
You may be thinking that this grandfather didn't hate God. He sounded like a fun and interesting person who worked hard. All of that is true.
However, there is another scripture that says anyone who isn't for God is against God. There are many places in the Bible that describe dealing with enemies. An enemy is described as someone who isn't on your side.
"He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters." Matthew 12:30
This great-grandfather certainly wasn't "with God." It shouldn't surprise us that this 4th generation also isn't "with God."
It would be so hopeless if the scripture stopped there. It doesn't. This young lady has her entire life in front of her. She could be introduced to the love of God. She could develop a relationship that gives her more love and joy than anything she has ever experienced. How that would change life for her. She would still have everything her great grandfather passed to her. She would have so much more.
But wait. Not only is there hope for this young lady, the news gets even better. By learning to love God, she gets to influence thousands of generations after her. Her great-grandfather's lack of attention to spiritual matters only influenced 3-4 generations.
I'll finish the scripture for you.
"You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
How loving is our Father. Pray for this young woman. She has an opportunity to influence her life and her children after her.
Pray that she will one day leave a tape of her life. On this tape, let her tell her great-granddaughter that the best thing she ever did was love God.
Please God, let that be her legacy to her great granddaughter.
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