A Legacy

My mom came down this week for a visit and she brought some Bibles that were my Grandpa's for me to see. One of them was given to my Grandpa by the person that led him to the Lord when he first got saved. It's in remarkably good shape considering that it's held together by black duct tape.

My Grandpa marked up his Bible real good. There are tons of passages underlined and notes written in the margins. I picked it up and out of no where the tears began to flow. His love for God and for the Word of God was so evident to me and the rest of his family. I thought about the many times he would share with me something (usually about God's grace) that he had just read. He would talk about it like he just discovered it, even though he had read that passage 100 times and had it memorized. There were some pages of the New Testament (especially the book of Romans) that were more discolored than others. I expected as much, because those were the scriptures we talked about most of the time when we were together.

I didn't look at it too long yesterday, because there were people around and I didn't want to look like an idiot, crying all over the place. But here's what I took away from those few minutes . . . "What legacy will I leave for my kids and my grandkids?" Will they only remember a good man that loved them and worked hard. I mean, those are important things, but I hope there is more. I hope that I will have lived out my faith before them. I hope that my love for God and His Word will have been so great that when my kids pick up my Bibles, they would almost be able to hear my voice filled with excitement over having just "discovered" something in God's Word for the 100th time, just like my Grandpa.