Think about your legacy
You’ve heard of Albert Einstein, right? He lived in the 20th century. He’s the guy who told us that space and time are related. Who would have guessed! He’s also the guy who told us that mass and energy are related! Nah, wouldn’t have guessed that either. Not satisfied with that, he even went on to say that mass deforms space i.e. mass and space are related. He changed our way of thinking. He lived only 76 years, but in that time he made his mark on human history.
Have you heard of James Clerk Maxwell? He lived in the 19th century. He was another guy who was obsessed with relating unlikely things. He told us exactly how electricity and magnetism are related, and how light is nothing but an electromagnetic wave traveling at, ahem, the speed of light. He was another great scholar who changed our way of thinking. He lived only 48 years, but in that time he too made his mark on human history.
Have you heard of Mahalalel? I’m guessing that you haven’t.
Why is that so?
It is because he didn’t do anything to make his name stand out.
We know he existed because his name is mentioned in Gen 5:15-17.
Gen 5:15-17 15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. 16 Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. 17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
He lived for 895 years, more than 10 times that of Einstein, and more than 20 times that of Maxwell. But all that God could say about him was that he existed, had sex more than a few times, and then he died.
From the spiritual and eternal perspective that was all that God could say about Mahalalel. That was his spiritual legacy.
So then, what about you? What legacy will you leave behind?
If all that can be said of you is that you were born, you had kids, and you died, then that’s too bad. Surely you can make something better out of your life.
Maxwell and Einstein made their mark on human history – from the scientific standpoint. But their mark on human history from the spiritual standpoint is not known. Job, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and many others, made their mark on human history in a more eternal way.
Perhaps, unlike Einstein and Maxwell, you are not very gifted mentally. But when it comes to spiritual things, we are all equally capable of making our mark on human history.
When you read this you may be tempted to give excuses for just why you can’t make a positive mark on human spiritual history. Perhaps you believe that something in your past limits you. To address that, let me introduce you to Robert Noyce, and the advice he has for you.
Yes, there was another man, Robert Noyce, who co-invented the microprocessor, who said, "Don’t be encumbered by history. Go off and do something wonderful."
Good advice, don’t you think? What are you going to do about it?
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