Welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you.[1]
I have been fascinated with the word Legacy this week. Legacy is defined as a thing handed down by a predecessor.
I have been working on the next sermon series, working on some big things for First Fire that will impact our next season of life and ministry and I just can’t help thinking about Legacy. I can not help but think in terms of what I/we will hand down and pass on to those that come after us.
This line of thinking flies in the face of doing things that simply have a quick-flash-bang effect. Things that leave Legacy are not only explosive and showy but instead, are a fire built and tended to over many years.
Early Native American tribes had people that were in charge of carrying the fire from one camp to the next. Listen to these words that describe this process:
Many Native American peoples developed technology and traditions so they could carry fire from one place to another. The Pikunii people of the western Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Front used fire carriers made of buffalo horns to carry burning coals from one camp to the next and to start a fire in the new camp. This was very helpful for the people as they arrived in the new camp, but the fire also served another important purpose: The fire provided spiritual and cultural continuity for the people because the same fire was used in one camp after another, even while the people traveled thousands of miles in their yearly migrations.[2]
We all need to be carriers of the fire. We all need to carry faithfully all that has been entrusted to us. We need to teach others to carry the fire faithfully. This is Legacy.
What will you pass on to those that come after you?
This is both a daunting and haunting question.
If you are a visual learner – here is another picture of what Legacy looks like. Enjoy.
Strength and courage,
kp
_____________________ [1] Common English Bible. (2011). (Jas 1:21). Nashville, TN: Common English Bible. [2] https://www.firelab.org/project/carrying-fire-pikunii-way
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