I do indeed now live a rich life. And certainly not because I either deserve it or earned it. Quite the contrary in fact. Nor do I not take great delight in realizing my numbered days regardless of how they play out, will be far beyond what I can now only imagine. Reading much scripture and a wide variety of purposeful wisdom books will kick start any life. “Movers and shakers” virtually in any field read incessantly; they literally devour books, and then engage in conversation with their friends, family and even total strangers about the uniqueness and richness of their gleanings ultimately bringing them to the table of real life, perhaps even down in the trenches of our daily grind, into our relationships in family, school, work, church, throughout our communities, and perhaps, depending on how God endowed and empowers us, to the far corners of our known world continually broadcasting our unique identity in Christ. Read the scripture quoted in the last paragraph if you think I’m blowing smoke.
Two of my sons encouraged me over the holidays to read a certain book but to steer clear of another. Friends and family frequently do that. So I read the one and was spiritually invigorated because the Scriptures are a “living” document, God can literally speak to you as you read from its confusing pages, In fact that is His principle desire for us as we are admonished by the two greatest commandments found in Matt 22; 36-40.
The second book of which I was told to avoid I had already read prior to their advice and even had five copies on my desk to loan out. And so for several weeks now I have pondered and considered frequently, at length, their comments and concerns. And then two days ago I listened to it again. I do that frequently. It takes time to gel, to weigh its themes and discover the books promise, and the authors hidden driven motivations. So after the second listen, I’ll just say the jury is out… and will be for years. Scripture is not nearly as illusive or so encumbered; besides it comes with a guide if you only ask!
I also listened for the second time finishing yesterday to Curt Landry’s “Reclaiming Our Forgotten Heritage: How Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity Can Transform Your Faith.” This book is not nearly as controversial in most circles but absolutely delightful in the fact that many Christians go their entire lives taking only the New Testament without the Jewish culture and wonder why they don’t have a full revelation of the body of Christ. Many simply do not understand all the pieces of the roots of the Christian Church and their place in the entirety of God’s Kingdom. The following verbatim paragraphs from Curt’s epoch masterpiece’s last chapter, are pertinent for persons such as me, caught in the cross hairs of legacy formation while living among our friends and “concerned” family members. Enjoy!
“One of the mysteries of legacy is understanding that lives speak louder and longer than words. Our children and our grandchildren and those who come after us will remember more about how we live than all the things we say. Our life example will outweigh the words we speak. Moreover, if how we live lines up with our words, then the wisdom we impart to others will have a better chance of being remembered.
Our legacy is our story, a parable of cultural principles that delivers a certain cause and effect. Every human being will leave a life legacy, path, a story, some kind of impact. The mark we leave is either our earthly DNA or our changed spiritual DNA. We leave the fruit of the works of our flesh or the fruit of the works of the spirit or a combination thereof.
When you were born again, you were grafted into a heritage that began with Adam and Eve, was consecrated by Abraham, Moses, David, and others in the Old Testament, and was fulfilled by the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua. That whole rich spiritual heritage is now yours.
However, being grafted in, born-again, and filled with the Holy Spirit does not ensure that your God-given purpose, your destiny, will be fulfilled. I am challenging you to return to the roots of biblical instruction, where you will find the keys of identity, purpose, and power. When biblical instruction is applied, you will not find legalistic bondage but liberty that is practical and applicable today. That liberty will empower you to live and leave a legacy of your own.
Making the choice to follow God‘s ways is not always easy, but it does leave a profound impact on future generations, as was demonstrated by Israel Meir Lau, the chief rabbi of Israel. All legacies come at a price, and for some the price is very high. As a child, having lost both of his parents during the holocaust, Lau was imprisoned at Buchenwald, one of the largest German concentration camps. It opened in 1937 in a wooded area in East Germany. The camp was liberated in 1945, at which time Rabbi Lau was a frightened seven-year-old boy. To evade the retreating Nazis, he hid himself in a pile of emaciated Jewish corpses, but his eyes moved back-and-forth, keeping a watch of his surroundings. A Jewish American soldier spotted the movement and lifted him out from among the dead.
The soldier wept at the sight of him. “How old are you, my child?“ he asked in Yiddish.
Lau’s remembered response has struck with me to this day. “What difference does it make? I am older than you.“
“Why do you think that you are older than me? I am a soldier – look at my uniform.“
The seven-year-old Lau said, “Because you cry and you smile like a child. I stopped laughing years ago. I do not cry anymore. So who is older?”
Rabbi Lau has a keen understanding of this principle of legacy and has kept his thousand- year lineage of thirty-eight generations of rabbis unbroken. His own son, David Baruch Lau, has followed in his father‘s footsteps and is now the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel.
Not all of us have the privilege of having our children and grandchildren follow so literally in our footsteps. But it is still a responsibility as parents, grandparents, and leaders to instill a sense of true legacy in those who come after us. Sadly, in western culture, legacy is too often seen simply as inheritance and is thought of mostly in terms of possessions, heirlooms, money, properties, vehicles, and so on. We have to train our minds to think of inheritance in a much broader sense.
If you were a parent or grandparent it’s your biblical responsibility to help your ceiling become your children’s floor and your children’s ceiling become your grandchildren‘s floor – building for them an inheritance of godly business, godly ministry initiatives, and godly relationships that help build Yeshua’s kingdom here on earth, just as it is in heaven. And even if you don’t have children, you still have a responsibility to the next generation. The responsibility of dominion that God gave humanity can only be multiplied beyond us through the education of those who come after us.
To keep our children and families (including our spiritual families) free from the enemy’s corruption, we must raise them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord through love and respect, but they must also see that the instruction is working. Legacy is the fruit of working God’s instruction and having it turn into a testimony of God‘s goodness that will last for generations to come.
I have learned that those who are truly happy and energized have two things in common. First, they have a healthy respect for what we refer to as their calling, the purpose for which God created them. And second, they have invested time and energy discovering or uncovering their roots and heritage. They have taken time to understand their own spiritual DNA and how it applies to the bigger picture. Making peace with these two important elements of their God-given identity brings peace and purpose into their lives and paves the way for even further success.
In order to live well and leave a legacy, we must discipline ourselves and intentionally change our habits and patterns so that we create an atmosphere conducive to empowering that legacy. This requires a commitment to hard work and a certain “daily grind.” Just as you must exercise and challenge your muscles if you want to grow stronger physically, you must repeatedly challenge yourself and practice your faith to build it up to accomplish bigger dreams. As Rabbi Lau said, we must ask ourselves: What shall we do? We cannot operate from a victim mentality. We must make sure that our choices impact our destiny and our legacy.
In closing, I hope that this book will prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies and that the Lord will anoint your head with the oil of your new identity in Him. My prayer for you and for all of us is that we would have an appreciation of God’s mysteries and God’s ways.
Now consider the words from Ephesians 3:14-21. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.