The Legacy of 90 Years

Last Friday, I drove to Waco for the celebration on the 90th Birthday of my grandfather.  He is a WWII Veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and someone who has walked with God and invested his life for the last 50 years to the cause of Christ.  I wrote him a letter expressing my thoughts upon his life.  I hope someone one day writes of me the way I did of him.  I want my life to count - not for that which fades, but continues on well after I leave.  Here is my letter:

Paw-Paw,

First of all, I wanted to wish you a very happy Birthday. 

I wanted to express from my heart today how thankful I am that you are my grandfather.  You have been one of the best models for ministry that I could have ever had.  As a kid coming to Amarillo for two weeks every summer allowed me the opportunity to watch and learn how to be passionate about preaching the word of God.  I believe that my passion to preach the word has come from seeing and hearing you preach so much as I grew up.  Thank you for instilling this passion in me.

When I think of the years you have lived, I cannot help but think of Deuteronomy 6.  You and MeMaw both exemplified the truth of this passage.

1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

You have taught your children to walk with God, they have taught their children, and now your grandkids are teaching their children to walk with God.  You have lived a life that fulfills this passage.  Of all of your accomplishments and praises that you have been given during your time on earth, this one, in my opinion stands above them all.  You have established a spiritual heritage that has been and is being passed down to the generations and will continue on after us all.

Thanks is not enough, but know that my thanks to you comes from the depth of who I am.

What will live on after we have gone?  That which we have invested in our families and friends. 

What will you and I live for?