FOOTPRINTS
Seeing the footprints in the snow, put a chill through my bones. The footprints were not large but small. It could have been a dog, cat, racoon or even a skunk. Some animal had been right under my living room window, where I had been sitting, leaving behind footprints.
While eating supper with some friends, I was telling a story about my deceased husband and realized none of them had ever met him. They had never been a part of the many aspects of his life. He had been an elder, deacon, preacher, mailman & was respected as a Boy Scout leader and trainer. The over 500 friends and family that came to his funeral was evidence that he had touched so many lives! But a new generation had come into the church as adults and they did not know the man who was everything to me, who had been a part of my life for over 36 years! Were there footprints that he had left behind?
There is a popular Christian song that points to the fact that we should not leave a legacy behind when we die. That we, our name, should not be remembered but that Jesus should be who is remembered. I agree with the concept. We are to be the light into this dark world of sin proclaiming God’s love and not be trying to make a name for ourselves. But I also look at the Bible and all the characters God has given us, who we do remember their names: Moses-Noah-David-Jezebel-Judas. The first three names we remember as warriors for the Lord. The last two we think about the evil they did. Have you ever heard of a baby being named Jezebel or Judas? There are many characters of the Bible who have left amazing footprints that we should try to step into them and serve the Lord. But then there are several footprints that we do not want to follow because they were evil.
I have started thinking, the older I get, about myself and if I will leave a legacy to future generations! Would people remember me or would I just become a faraway shadow with a headstone. There are parts of our physical bodies which live through the generations. My grandfather had the most beautiful light blue eyes that just sparkled. He has been gone now for many years, but when I look at my oldest son, I see my grandfather reflecting back through his sparkling blue eyes! My son has taken on those blue eyes down through the generations. Who knows maybe one of these days one of my sons’ grandchildren or great-grandchildren will see him reflecting back through one of their beautiful eyes! It makes us feel like we have not lost those who have gone on before us because they are reflected in our loved ones. But is that really important? Is it only about the physical or is it also about our spirituality reflecting to future generations? Are future generations, a hundred years from now, going to remember our names and that we had served the Lord? The scriptures are full of what we are to do for future generations to help them know and remember the Lord and remember our examples of faithfulness. Psalm 102:18 says, talking about God’s law, “This will be written for the generations to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.”
Psalm 76:1-4 reads: “Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my words in a parable, I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from our children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.” These verses tell me that we are to be vocal about our love for the Lord. Do my children and grandchildren see the Lord living in me or do I not practice what I preach? Does my daily life reflect the light of the one and only God? Does my speech show a person who does not like the bad jokes or the bad language spoken around me at work or on the TV? We are not to hide who we truly are, but show our true selves to our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. We must proclaim the Lord and His goodness to our family, so when our footprints disappear, God will be remembered and that He lived in and through us.
Let’s look at another scripture. Judges 2:10 reads: “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.” This is talking about after Joshua died. Joshua had been a grand leader, known throughout Israel. The book of Joshua has a very quoted verse. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” What had gone wrong that future generations did not know Joshua and were not serving the Lord? How could they forget what Joshua had done as a leader or how he had led his life? Somewhere down the family chain, the Lord had not been talked about. God had not become evident by the way they lived their lives. God had been forgotten and the world had taken His place in their lives. During Bible times, they did not have the written scripture so easily accessible to them as we do. They only had word of mouth to proclaim God to their children and future generations. We are so blessed to have the written word to help us visualize and know the great men and women who have gone before us. We can keep God “alive” through reading the scriptures to the next generation and through living our lives as a light to the world. We can be like how Abel in Hebrews 11:4 is described. That scripture tells us that “though being dead, still speaks.” Themen and women of the past are reminding us of their dedication for the Lord, through reading scripture and talking about past generations to those in the present and those yet to be born.
My mother passed away three years ago. She lived her life loving her family and the Lord. She had so many traditions, at the holidays, that my family has tried to keep going, but it is not really the same. So, we also have started new traditions. Traditions are a way of honoring the loved ones who have gone before us; a way to be reminded of their love for each of us still here on earth. Will those old traditions and the new ones I have started, be like footprints on future generations in their hearts? My older grandchildren will have so many memories with their great-grandmother, my mother. But my smaller grandchildren will not really remember her except through pictures. How will her legacy live on? The key is that we will talk about her and tell stories to future generations about her. But shouldn’t this be the same with God? We need to tell the stories from the Bible of those men and women who lived for the Lord, so that future generations will know Him.
Is it important that people in the future know me, my husband or my mother? Should it make me sad that this or future generations have never met my husband, or my mother? What will people remember when I die? Will they remember how I died? What I owned materially or what job I worked? Or will I be remembered by how I lived my life, my faith. The importance is that God is alive for future generations through our examples, our faith and our talking about Him. Psalm 78:2-4 say “I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from our children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord. And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.” We need to be teaching our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren about God and His greatness. Maybe when one of them are surrounded by evil, one of our words, echoing through the winds of time, can be heard and they will turn to God for their strength and answers instead of to drugs, alcohol or any of the other evil that the world tries to make us believe is the answer. Have we shown our family that the one true answer is to surround yourself with Godly people and the words from past generations that tell us to love and serve only God, not the things of this world? My purposes on this earth is not to make a name for myself but to proclaim God’s name so future generations will know Him. It is all about God, not us! God’s legacy is important, not mine! But our footprints need to be in the hearts of those we love and come in contact with everyday so that when we die, they will remember that we loved and served the Lord.
When my husband died, I went ahead and got a headstone that is for both of us. My daughter reminded me of a Bible verse, that I put on the stone, from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” In the future, when someone bends down to read my old, wind-blown stone, what are they going to realize? Will they remember my name, the person I was to my friends and family? No, but they will read that scripture and know that my husband and I loved the Lord. The verse will speak through years to come, to future generations, giving hope that there is something after this life. That there is hope for their future, if they serve the Lord and we will be reunited with our loved ones in heaven! That verse is a footprint for generations to come.
Ask yourself, what am I doing in my life right now to leave a legacy about God to future generations! It is not too late. You can start right now! Future generations’ eternity depends on it! Are you leaving footprints behind?
Till next time! Keela