Patrimony! Patrimony! Patrimony! – look it up, learn it, live it and leave it. Leave something more than your last name and your genes to your children and future generations. What you leave behind should be valuable, meaning worth keeping…Some things worth holding on to – some heirlooms if you will…semi-literally and figuratively some gems – things for their spirit, soul, body and accounts [and account means more than just where they keep money. It also means a personal version of a story. I mean it in both senses]…
(Proverbs 13:22) A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
(Hebrews 9:16-17) For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. (17) For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
A few Sundays ago, just before leaving for church, I was standing the vestibule of our home. My beautiful wife, Doreene, was still getting a few things done inside before we leave as is her routine. I asked my two sons to open the gate in front of the driveway. My third and extremely entertaining six year old child, Jeremiah, eagerly rushed to help. He was wearing brand new shoes his mother had just bought him the day before. Running across the front lawn, he said, “I’ll do it!” Side note: include your children in the day to day processes so that help and responsibility become second nature not a spirit of entitlement…
So, Jeremiah runs and opens both sides of the gate. I thank him. Proud of himself he races his big brother, Ellington, to get into the back seat of my SUV. I begin to strap in my youngest daughter in her baby seat, when collectively we all began asking “what is that horrible smell?” Apparently, an animal had left something behind and Jeremiah stepped in it. Jeremiah had tracked feces so bad it was on his brand new shoes, his booster seat, his pant leg, door frame of my truck and the floor mat. I rush to get him everything clean and my beautiful but already frustrated wife is just about to come out…very upset, she addresses Jeremiah with language not quite as colorful as GOD’s promise not to flood the Earth again but very firmly. I reassured him that we all make mistakes while gently rubbing the side of his face. Side note: reassurance and meaningful touch are vital for children…
As we cleaned him and everything else up the concern was whether any feces was tracked in the house and whether any of the stench remained on us as we headed to church. We still made it on time and received a word from Dr. A. R. Bernard that blessed our lives. Side note: plan to leave early and even if something happens, you’ll be on time…
Brothers, you never leave behind nothing! You always leave something. You choose what you leave. However, too many of us are leaving behind things like that animal on my lawn…Things that will putrefy our kids’ walks. Things that they will track in their future homes and in the house of the LORD…that requires cleansing [sins, debt, poor and unhealthy habits, stress, abusive talk or outright abuse, sexual perversion, frustration, bitterness, fear, indecisiveness, confusion, self-defensiveness, addictions, acting out, jaundiced view of others] – instead, let us leave a legacy, a will and a testament worth carrying forth – a sweet smelling savor! What are these – legacy, a will and a testament? In the coming weeks, I will delve deeper into each of them but for now, I will only begin to tackle legacy. So what is legacy?
Legacy – leaving gifts and a standard to be honored, upheld or denounced as an inheritance [they have a choice]. It is now understood to mean merely something left behind for others to remember you after you die. It meant so much more in the onset. Legacy initially meant to send a group of legates, envoys, emissaries, ambassadors or foreign diplomats aka delegates ahead of you to state and facilitate your will and purpose beyond your physical [living or dead] reach or availability. They were to bring a clear message of what you stood for, intended as representatives executors of your estate, priesthood and kingdom.
They had power of attorney. So, your children, students, mentees, congregations do not merely receive your legacy, they are your legacy. Also, we are all CHRIST’s legacy and HE is our attorney of all power and glory. Our legacy of faith goes back to before the foundation of the world. We to pass to all who we mentor and minister to the baton or torch of faith passed to us. Our legacy is a legacy of lived and modeled faith.
So what gifts or standards should we leave to our children as legacy?
1) A Trust Fund and Savings Account- Our faith in JESUS, how HE saved us, our testimony lived in front of them
2) Partnership [The Family Business] - Our devotion to our wives
3) Mutual Funds - Availability - Our presence, investment, involvement and guidance toward their future
4) Philanthropic Ventures – charity begins at home but does not end there. Let your children see you invested in the lives of a variety of others
5) Cultural Endowment – invest in and influence the entertainment and educational choices they make
When you leave…and we all will leave unless CHRIST returns before you pass…in the interim die to yourself and when you leave, leave them as a legacy. Launch the arrows in your quiver on fire for the LORD
I love YOU and I love you
Brother Jeremy A. Maynard
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