Devotionals for the Heart: Legacy

Sharing Our Legacy
A devotional by Jessica Brodie

Tied up in losing people we love is that no one will ever know us just like that—ever again.

When my Gram died a few years ago, I didn’t just lose a confidante who understood the quirky humor and drive beneath my serious, bookish nature, or a woman with a fierce intellect and the sort of deep soul-wisdom I craved. I lost how good it felt to be understood by her. She “got” me on a level few in my world did, and with her passing, part of myself felt like it was slipping away.

Flipping through a photo album with my kids, I was horrified when my daughter didn’t remember her. I realized my children were never going to know her like I did—or know me through her eyes. I needed to do my part to change that: sharing stories and memories, passing on her legacy of authentic goodness and wit. She shaped so much of my life, my personality and my childhood. My kids needed to know this!

When Jesus died, his apostles were bereft, inconsolable, but he sent the Holy Spirit in his place to live within each them. The spirit transformed them with the power to spread the Gospel, growing the church from a handful of persecuted believers to a worldwide harvest of millions.

Just like I want to share the legacy of my late Gram so her beautiful soul can carry on in my children, we as Christians are propelled with the authority and all-encompassing command of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses of the One True God, the Alpha and Omega, so all people can know Christ. The good news of the Gospel wasn’t gifted to humanity so it could be a secret for a select few but to be proclaimed so all can dance in the light of the Lord.

I love what the Apostle Peter wrote in his letter to the early believers: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are God’s own possession. You have become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his amazing light. Once you weren’t a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you hadn’t received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10 CEB).

Jesus Christ called us out of darkness and into God’s glory. Why should we keep such good news hidden away? We are obligated to share, but more than that, we are honored to be able to share about the wondrous things that have happened to us because we chose to walk in the light. Because of this choice, we are God’s people. And because we share these stories, others can be God’s people, too.

Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, “You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16 CEB). 

And in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus said, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to every creature” (Mark 16:15 CEB).

Praise the Lord—we have an inheritance to share. Let’s do what we can to tell the world His story.

~*~
Author Bio:
Jessica Brodie is an award-winning Christian novelist, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing coach and the recipient of the 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for her novel, The Memory Garden. 

She is also the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism, and a member of the Wholly Loved Ministries team.

Learn more about her fiction and read her faith blog at http://jessicabrodie.com/shiningthelight.