Leave A Legacy (Part 4) Series

Leaving A Legacy – Adapted from The Search For God’s Own Heart by Andy Cook (Ch. 15)

(Part 4, Building a Stronger Family)

Text: II Samuel 21:15-22 (pg. 232 in pew bible)

God gives each generation the opportunity to raise up new leaders for God’s people. Since we know that God will have leaders for the next generation, the question is - will you have a hand in raising up the leaders of the next generation?

Play Andrew Peterson’s song – Song and Dance-Track 4 (first verse only)

David’s on his throne at sundown, his paper and his pen are in his hand.

He’s waiting on a song at sundown, as he gazes out across his Holy Land

And he thinks of old Goliath and he smiles, He can barely keep from laughing

He says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.”

He can hear the rivers clapping, they’re still clapping to the same old song and dance…(fade out at 1:19)

Our search for God’s own heart, as in the case of David, does not stop once we reach the golden years of life, in fact it becomes the time when God relies on us to carry on the promises of His word to those who are beginning the search you started long ago.

Getting older can be a funny thing though, one comedian once remarked, “If I keep wandering through my house looking for what I wanted one room ago, it won’t be long before I can hide my own Easter eggs, leave the room and come back to find them and have a great time finding the surprises!”

Another elderly gentleman was having a great time at a senior citizen’s seminar when a young woman asked him what kind of plans he had for the future. The 75 year old man said, “Honey, at my age, I don’t even buy green bananas.”

But one of the worst stories I’ve read was of the grandchild sitting on her grandfather’s lap listening to the Bible story of Noah’s Ark.

“Were you in the Ark, grandpa”, she asked?

He chuckled and replied, “Why, no I wasn’t.”

There was a pause, and the child looked up at him quizzically and asked, “Then why weren’t you drowned?”

We have to make sure our last years are our best years.

In time, time will exhaust you. Growing old is no picnic. It wasn’t easy for David as well.

George Burns, an expert on growing old, said you know your getting old when:

-The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bifocals

-You get winded playing chess

-Your children start to look middle-aged

-you sit in a rocking chair but you can’t get it going

-dialing long distance wears you out

-the little gray-haired woman you help across the street is your wife

-your knees buckle but your belt won’t

-And lastly, you know you’re getting older when stoop to tie your shoes and you wonder what else you can do while you’re down there.

The Bible gives us a great picture of David, in a tough moment of his life, when he realizes that time has exhausted him. No funny jokes, no comedian’s routines can take away the truth: The older we get the tougher it is to keep the battle lines strong.

It’s just about this time when we see the youth of the world creeping up on us and realizing that we are no longer the “go to” people. I feel this every-once-in-a-while when I watch sports on TV. I see this rookie sensation playing at the top of the game and I see his age, 20 or 21, and I realize that I used to be that old once. I used to think that I could play professional sports if I was given the opportunity, now I am at the age most players think about retirement. I don’t consider myself to be an older person, until I realize that time is catching up with me.

We have this new generation of problems as we get older. Evil never takes a generation off. David battled one giant, Goliath, in the very beginning of his career. Goliath was a huge problem, one that David never forgot. But, near the end of his life, four more giants came out of the woods. It overwhelmed him that there were still giants, problems, and evil. But, again, evil never takes a generation off.

Today, we are faced with incredible giants and problems and evil of every kind. We have seen teenagers shoot and kill teachers and other teenagers. We have seen families torn apart by divorce and crippled because of the unfaithfulness of the parents. Children have been born in bathroom stalls and left for dead. Worse yet, children aren’t even given the chance to be born because of a pro-choice decision. Single mothers are teaching their daughters how to become prostitutes and use men for greed and nothing more than a means to financial gain and physical pleasure. Single fathers are teaching young boys to disrespect women and that love is not worth giving unless you get something in return. There is a mixing of gender so rampant today that teens are more confused about their sexuality than ever, and you don’t know if the person doing your hair is a “Bob” or a “Betty”. Terror has a new face in America and the world today, and part of it is being brought to your door by the local post office.