June 25th | 2 Chronicles 12
What Legacy Will You Leave Behind?
If someone were to ask you what your legacy will be when you leave this earth, what would you say? If you’re like me, you wouldn’t have a clue because life feels so busy right now! I’m often just trying to get from one day to the next, so the lasting legacy of my life isn’t always at the forefront of my mind. I would like my legacy to be a faithful minister of the Gospel, a devoted father and husband, and a wonderful friend. Yet, we don’t get to write our legacies, do we? Once we leave this earth, someone will write them for us. It should remind us that a life full of small choices eventually adds up to a lasting legacy.
In 2 Chronicles 12, Rehoboam succeeds his father, Solomon, as king after Solomon's death. He has established himself as king of Israel, and then we read the opening verse of the chapter.
2 Chronicles 12:1,
“1 When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.”
Not only did Rehoboam walk away from the Lord, but he led an entire nation away from God. Imagine the weight of such a statement. Today, an entire nation might not be on your shoulders, but in your life, you can either push people toward or away from God. What will be your legacy? A life filled with choices that are consistently pushing people to God or one that constantly pulls people away from the Lord?
Because of Rehoboam’s sin, God brought the Egyptians to plunder Israel. Once Rehoboam felt the pain of loss, he humbled himself before the Lord, and God heard his cry. God stopped the onslaught from a foreign nation, but the damage was already done. Rehoboam’s legacy was already written. At the end of his life, the Chronicler records this terrifying statement about Rehoboam.
2 Chronicles 12:13-14,
“So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. 14 And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.”
If someone sat down to record your legacy, what would they say? He sought the Lord, or he sought himself? He pulled people into the kingdom of God, or did he draw people away? Every day we have a choice to follow Christ. Don’t let your life slip away and leave behind a tarnished legacy. Choose today to seek the Lord and cement a legacy of a life lived for the Lord.
