Two Pieces of Paper

I believe all of us ponder our legacy from time to time. When a friend or a loved one passes, the freshness of the memories stays with us for a long time. However precious, those memories will fade. For example, most of us know very little of our great grandparents. Unless we become famous, other than a grave or crypt marker, all that will remain a hundred years after we are gone are two simple pieces of paper.

No matter where we are born, our birth is memorialized on a birth certificate. When we die, the same holds true for our death certificate. Two pieces of paper with an entire life lived between them. These two pieces of paper are important for history or genealogy, but what really matters is the life that existed between them.

As followers of Christ, we know that the Word lays out a path for all of us on how to live those years between those pieces of paper. We are to live with purpose and conviction. Renown Christian author Max Lucado talks about being saved into God’s family is only the first step – after that comes the opportunity to tell others the Good News (Matthew 28: 18-20) and serve others to help ameliorate suffering and hunger (Matthew 25: 34-40). In other words, we are saved to not only expand the numbers of heaven, but also to make a difference for God in this world.

We now have the chance to be an impact player in the most important of times. In the upcoming months we are going to be discussing as a congregation our purpose and vision and how each of us can play a vital part. Our legacy is being written this very moment. Not to fill history books – our legacy will be measured in Kingdom building.

The next time you ponder your two pieces of paper, think of the opportunity that God has given us to make a huge difference as we journey between birth and death. Our two pieces of paper will eventually turn to dust, but eternity will last forever.