I believe it the responsibility and duty of each follower of Jesus to leave a legacy worthy of their calling. We have been given a finite number of days between birth and death to honor our Creator and to further His mission on earth. Too many of us proclaim Jesus to be the Lord of our lives and then live in a manner that makes no impact for the Kingdom. If Jesus is your Lord, then you will live each day with the intention of being obedient to Him and walking in His footsteps. That’s what it means to surrender your life to Him. You can’t claim He is Lord and then live a life that looks no different from that of those around you.
Over the last century or two, particularly in the West, Christianity has devolved into a social club of easy access and little consequence. We cry out against many things but stand for very little. Modern Christianity seeks to balance a life of safety, comfort, and ease with the cross of Jesus. It’s ludicrous and impossible for those two concepts to come together. Jesus promised us persecution and a cross, but we seek to follow Him by avoiding those very things! You cannot have Jesus as Lord and maintain a lifestyle of selfishness and safety. It goes against everything Jesus taught. Following Jesus will never look anything remotely like pursuing the American dream.
You can choose to live your life trying to stay unnoticed. You can pursue the path of least resistance to avoid pain and discomfort. You can even choose to never get involved so as not to expose yourself to harm. But if you do, your life will never look like Jesus. You will never understand what it means to follow Him, and you are fooling yourself if you think the prayer a preacher told you to pray will save you on the Day of Judgment. The call of Jesus is radical and uncompromising. It looks nothing like the life the world is telling you to live. Jesus is not of this world and His followers will serve Him and Him alone.
What you do with each breath entrusted to you will determine your legacy for God. We can choose to honor Him by serving others, humbly submitting to His will, and demonstrating His love. Or you can leave a legacy of selfishness, one that may be impressive in the eyes of the world but means absolutely nothing to the King of the universe. We all will leave a legacy, but only those who intentionally choose what theirs will be will be able to honor God with their lives.
Every new day brings a new opportunity to serve Jesus. As long as we are breathing, we have the chance to add to our legacy in a way that honors God. Don’t drift through life pursuing those things that will make no difference in the end. Determine to live each day with an intentionality to serve, honor, and obey the One who created you, redeemed you, and loves you with an unsurpassable love.