What will be your legacy?

My wife and I recently endured the movie,” The Day the Earth Stood Still” (shout out to Redbox and “free rentals on Monday nights). To be brutally honest, I think the movie deserved each and every one of the “C” ratings that it received from most of the critics and movie fans that reviewed it. The movie told the story of how alien civilizations came to rid the Earth of Humanity due to the fact that we were not taking care of one the most precious resources in the cosmos…the planet Earth. The aliens took human form and lived among us, observing our behavior and after being provoked by our destructive behavior, they decided that it was time to pull the trigger and wipe us out.

One of the aliens had lived on Earth for roughly 70 years. After living “among us”, he gave a report to Keanu Reeves, who too was also an alien and who had set the plan in motion to kill us. In his report he talked about the destructive nature of mankind and how mankind knows the end result of its destructive behavior, but chooses to pursue this destructive behavior. Choosing to live in a false “reality” and ignoring the truth concerning the consequences of their actions. It was noted that these behavior patterns are passed down from generation to generation and bear the seeds of hatred, anger and death. In contrast, he was burdened by the fact that he had grown to love the humans for inside of them was the capacity to love and to unite in the face of annihilation. As a result of his human experience, the old man “alien” was willing to die with humanity as they were exterminated.

This movie, while I give it two thumbs down, was connected to some of my recent experiences. One was last Friday when I hooked up with my best friend growing up who is now a Pastor (Shout out to Clay). He invited me to join him at a Basketball outreach where young men are invited to play ball at a school gym and in a drama-free, “free from profanity” environment and are also prayed for, ministered to and encouraged to become the men that God intends for them to be. As the night came to an end, Clay issued a challenge to the young men. Simply put, he asked them, “What will your legacy be?”

Far too many people leave the Earth and leave no legacy behind…They walk but leave no imprint on the sands of time. I am convinced that people who don’t leave a legacy are people who don’t maximize the opportunities presented by the Defining Moments of life.

In a recent Bible Study, the discussion leader defined Defining Moments as moments that require a decision on our part and after that decision is made (right or wrong) our lives are never the same. More importantly, a Defining Moment is a moment when you are confronted with a truth about life and you are invited to change the way you live as a result of that truth.

As with the challenges that faced both Humanity (in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”) and the young men (that I met last week at the Basketball Outreach), we are “met-head-on” with Defining Moments. I believe that life is lived between Defining Moments. Many times we don’t want to face the truth about ourselves, the truth about our relationships, the truth about our finances, the truth about God etc., but rest assure that denial and avoidance of the truth doesn’t make the truth less real.

What truth are you faced with today? What reality have you been in denial about? I urge you today to ask God to give you the wisdom to know how to deal with your Defining Moments and the strength to endure until He has made His Truth known to you.

In the face of your defining moment…what will be your legacy?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,
B