WMA: Lasting Legacy

By Jackie Ricks

Lasting Effects of Godly Actions and Character on You — We should be concerned with the kind of godly legacy we leave for others here on Earth. However, it might help to consider who has left a legacy already for you and how that has changed your life. When we’re growing up, we don’t always notice the effect others have on our lives — good or bad. It seems the older we get, the more we think about that. With this theme for the year, I’ve thought about it often recently.

There are various kinds of legacies — monetary, values, ethics, character, faith, reputation and example. Although I did not always acknowledge the lasting legacy my parents were leaving me when I was growing up, I knew they were teaching me the right things and being the kind of Christian example I needed in my life. However, they were not the only ones. Many have already been welcomed home by Jesus, but their memory lives on in me and in others who observed their lives and continue their legacies. Just as our physical bodies continue to grow and change, so our spiritual lives should continue to grow and change as we mature. The important thing, as always, is to let Jesus’ life show through ours.

Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my mother and father were the best Christian examples in my life. They put God first in everything, no matter what. I remember sometimes asking for permission to do something (probably something I wasn’t sure was exactly best, but hoped I could do it anyway) and being asked, “What does the Bible say?” It’s one thing to go against a parent, but quite another to go against God. I knew my dad and mom, Lester and Clytis Blackerby, looked to the Lord and His Word for answers to life’s questions and problems. I often saw each of them studying the Bible. It wasn’t just put on a shelf and left to gather dust until the next Sunday. Not only did they read their daily Bible readings and Sunday School lessons, study for mom’s WMA lessons to teach or Dad’s sermons to preach, they just read and studied because God’s Word is important. I like the acrostic for Bible — Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

Another thing God taught me through my parents was how important prayer is. I remember walking into the kitchen often to see my mother washing dishes and praying at the same time. When a problem arose, prayer was always the first response. Growing up, I remember special prayer meetings for various people or situations and then seeing the answered prayers. Sometimes, it felt like God performed miracles because of healed bodies despite doctors’ opinions or resolved situations that were impossible. That’s an awesome experience! After leaving home, I often called my parents to request prayer because I knew they would pray. They didn’t even have to know the people or the details.

Lester Blackerby was not a well-educated man as far as the world was concerned. He didn’t even graduate from high school because of the times and family situation he lived in growing up. However, he never stopped learning. He bought books, attended seminars and tried to keep up with the changing times. If an extension course from the seminary came to the area where we lived, Dad made every effort to go. Mom did as well. Sometimes he had to be a bi-vocational pastor. Although in those days, they usually just said “part-time” pastor, there’s really no such thing, at least not for my dad. A pastor’s job is full-time no matter what anyone else says, and I watched my parents give their time to be there for others in spite of what they may have planned. The amazing thing was that they didn’t grumble and complain as many of us probably do today. They simply continued to study and learn God’s Word.

The most important legacy my parents left was their faith in God for everything. Although faith is necessary for salvation, and my parents made sure we children knew that and accepted the Lord as our Savior, they also had daily living faith. Whether money was tight, God was moving us to a new place, health was failing or church members were squabbling, Mom and Dad always looked to God for the answers. They understood that problems don’t always resolve themselves in our time but that God has perfect timing. From them, I’ve learned to turn things over to God. My problem is that I sometimes try to pick them back up to “help” Him. Although the faith is there, I’m impatient. And I’m not sure I’ve passed my faith on to others.

What about you? Who has left you a lasting legacy? Are you keeping it going for the next generation or letting it fall by the wayside?

• Scripture — Matt. 21:21-22; Gal. 2:20; I Tim. 4:12; II Tim. 2:15; James 2:17-18

• Prayer — “Lord, thank You so much for my parents and for the examples they were in my life. Please help me live a life that could also be an example to others so that when others look at me, they see not me, not my parents, but You, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

• Response — Think about who has left a legacy for you and how you can leave a legacy for others. Make sure it shows forth Christ and not ourselves or others.

— These articles are shared via the National WMA web page blog that can be accessed at nationalwma.org/blogs.