Baptism Weekend Devotional Day 6
DAY 6 – Saturday
Daily devotional
Read
Luke 24:27-53
Ask
Jesus left a legacy. What does that mean to you?
Reflect
I was asked to sing at a memorial of a person I didn’t know. At one point in the service, they played a voice recording of the woman who had died. It was a message she had left them—a parting word she wanted them to know. It was pretty powerful; there wasn’t a dry eye. It was a gift to hear one more time how much she loved them and watch their faces reveal how they received it. They hung on every word.
Inserting myself into these last moments, Jesus spent on earth with the ones closest to him, I can only imagine the looks on their faces. Read the passage above in Luke. The scripture was a familiar book to these listeners. Jesus explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. He spoke to them, he ate with them, and he showed them his hands and feet. He told them they were his witnesses to all things pertaining to him. He sent forth the promise of the Father on them. While he blessed them, he was carried up to heaven. In the end of John’s gospel, it says “…and there were also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”.
I write in my Bible, and in the margin, I write notes to my kids. Those notes are for when I am gone someday as I am counting on them outliving me. I want them to know what scriptures I have dedicated to them and prayed over them. I want them to know how much I loved Jesus in my time on earth. I want them (more than anything) to know that God’s Word deep in their hearts is more comforting than anything and the Holy Spirit is their teacher.
Jesus gave us his Word so we would know how to love and how to live. He left a legacy in scripture. He left us little notes literally everywhere—hints of who he is, why he came and how he loved. Jesus gave us his Word because he wanted us to be comforted; to have hope and know the truth. This isn’t a story passed down by word of mouth; it was carefully written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it is infallible, and you either believe all of it by faith or you don’t. Just like my little notes in the margin don’t tell the whole of who I am, there are things we have to wait until heaven to know (Deut. 29:29). But what we do know from the Word is the character of God. While we may have some questions, all we need to know now has been written down for our benefit.
What will your legacy look like? Are there words that need to be spoken now, before another day passes to loved ones that need to hear it? I can think of three people I need to speak to today. What about you?