Leaving a Lasting Legacy

I often remember my Great-grandmother.

To many people, she was Elizabeth Robertson. To me, she was Ninny. She spoke softly but lovingly. She always wanted to know what was going on in my life. She loved and cared and made the best grilled cheeses. I don't know that she made them any different than anyone else, but they always tasted better than anyone else's. That is still true to this day.

She was a Christian woman who never shied away from her faith. She was a constant presence at her church. She talked about Jesus in such loving terms. She shared her faith with her family. To this day, I feel the impact she had on my grandmother and my mother and on me. I don't know that I would be a pastor today if not for the legacy of my Ninny.

It's a stark reminder to me that I, too, will leave a legacy with my own children, grandchildren and others. My actions and my words will long outlive my life. I hope it will be in a positive way.

At the end of the book of Ruth, we get the epilogue and coda of the story. The epilogue tells us what happens to Naomi. This broken woman nurses her grandson, who will take care of her in her old age. She will leave a lasting impression on him.

Then we get to the coda, which is really a geneaology. Here we learn that Ruth's son, Obed, is the father of Jesse who is the father of David. That David. The one who slays Goliath. The won who becomes king. The King that becomes the benchmark for all of Judah's kings to follow. The man who's family line would produce the Messiah.

We're reminded that Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz have charateristics and actions that outlived them. They impacted Obed who impacted Jesse who impacted David. They left a lasting legacy of faith.

And it reminds me that I am to do the same. That I must share Christ with my kids, my family, my friends and my neighbors. That I must do things that will have long-lasting reverberations through history. I may only make a small impact on my family, but that impact may leave a larger impact in the future.

A lot like my Ninny.

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