A Life Well Lived
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Living a legacy for future generations is driving value in my life. I have heard it said that there are three significant dates in our lives in determining the impact of one’s legacy whether good or bad….
1. The day you were born.
2. The day you die.
3. The day someone says your name for the last time
Still talking about George Washington, William Shakespeare, Julius Cesar, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, and of course, Jesus Christ. We may not know all the details about their lives but for the most part, their names are recognized still today.
Last week, as we marked the birthdays of Dr. Martin Luther King and Betty White, I learned that Anne Frank and Dr. King were both born in 1929 while Betty White was born in 1922. Did you catch that? Betty was 7 years old when Dr. King and Anne Frank were born.
As you probably already know, Anne Frank died in a German concentration camp in 1945 at the age of 16 while Dr. King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, TN at the age of 39. Meanwhile, Betty lived to be 99 years 11 months and 16 days, and died in her sleep on the last day of 2021.
What legacy have these people left? In 2019, the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam saw over 1M visitors. Even in the COVID year of 2020, almost 400K walked through the doors that told the story of occupied Holland during WW1. This was 75 years after her death.
One of the YouTube videos of Dr. King’s famous speech, I Have a Dream, has over 16M views and counting. This was over 50 years after his death.
As much as I loved many of Betty White’s characters, routines, and humor, I don’t think that Millions will be lining up to watch her skits in 50 years. And she had decades more time to make an impact.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, I am not wanting to have millions of views of a message I gave, or a museum created to tell my story, unless somehow God is gloried in that. However, I do want to hear “well done” when standing before the Lord. I do want to have lived a life in such a way that there will be an eternal impact made. I do want to have lived a life that reflects excellent stewardship in all that I have been given.
What about you? Is leaving an eternal legacy important to you? What are you doing today to hear a “well done” on that Day? Love to hear your thoughts…please drop them in the comments below or reach out to me heres://www.beckyturner.com/contact.
