the life in dying

'And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that … they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha. And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet.’ II Kings 13:21

I saw the most touching story last week. It chronicled the journey of a mother who connected with the organ donor recipient of her teenage daughter’s heart. She wanted to listen to the heartbeat, her daughter’s heartbeat, a gift of life that continues on beyond the brief 13-years of life from which it came.

It was beautiful, stirring, sad and hopeful all at the same time.

And it started me thinking about my own life. It started me thinking about the legacy that will remain when I have left this life and passed on to the next.

• Will it matter that I was here?
• Will there be those whose lives were made richer because of my presence?
• Will there be those whose lives will be made richer because of my life?
• Will there be those I meet in heaven, who I never met on earth, because of something I did while I was here?

Will the life that I have lived as a Christian continue to have an impact beyond the years that I have been allotted on this earth?

A woman, a mom, has been given an additional opportunity at life because of the gift of that young girl. A man came back to life, just from coming into contact with the bones of God’s prophet.

There is a life and a gift which keeps on giving …

My aim is to live that kind of life, to be that kind of gift.

To be so poured out and into the lives of others – that the ripples of your presence, of HIS Presence, are felt throughout ages, and not just the age you were given …

• Are the friends of my sons better off for knowing them? Have my attempts to instill godly values extended beyond my reach with them and into their relationships with others?
• Will some father, somewhere in time, turn his heart to Jesus and be the god-head of his family because of something I wrote or communicated?
• Will some single-mother find the strength to trust Jesus alone because of a word of encouragement that came from my lips?
• Will there be ministries that continue to reach around the world – introducing people to Christ – because of the monetary gifts that I gave?

Will there be ‘exceedingly abundant situations’ which go beyond anything I could have ever imagined – because the power at work in me, the Holy Spirit, continues to touch those places where I’ve poured out my life – long after I am gone?

Elisha had just such an anointing on his life – even his dead bones continued to give live after he was gone.

That young lady is still touching a world that she is no longer a part of.

Oh, to have a heartbeat that keeps on giving life to others after we have moved on!
What glory to have HIS heartbeat felt in the earth because of the spirit of God which lives in us!

'So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.’ Rom. 12:1 MSG