Renewal

There was a friendly, yet imposing message coming from the prairie grass. I listened carefully, quietly waiting. Was it a song or a statement whispered? It came to me as a profound story with a warm presence. I couldn’t discern its meaning at first. I just stood and gazed with deep respect at the old homestead many miles from any road. The passion and intensity of the men, women and children who once lived here – in this very place – was overwhelming. Their labor was everywhere obvious – their investments of skill, time and enormous energy stood distinct and deliberate. Theirs had been a life of endless hard work, and I sensed it had been a life of much joy as well. Rusted machinery, heavily worn and broken, lay scattered about. Trees had grown between wheel spokes while their branches consumed the brittle strands of rusted barbed-wire fences. Weather-beaten window frames and floor boards twisted with age were still proudly-struggling to retain their man-given form and place.

Then haunting questions came like early-morning-visitors to a graveyard. What ultimate purpose did these pioneer lives serve? What was the nature of their legacy? Their earnest strivings were still so evident. Yet, so soon their names and deeds are forgotten. Did their lives end in victory or defeat?

All my lingering questions could be answered in the last: was the love of God well-received and nurtured in this home? I sensed these people had left behind a glorious heritage, having the capacity to live fulfilled, in spite of hardship. I hoped that in-Christ they had found their completeness, well-acquainted with the rich fruits of the Spirit. I prayed that their descendants too would put their trust in Him.

In this obscure place, I felt God’s abiding presence and joy amidst the prairie grass.

Ephesians 1:18 (NIV).

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people…

Time Out

Precious Father, owner of the cattle on a thousand hills, plant deep within me an awareness of the many, bountiful benefits and promises You give to those who seek to know. Lord, I praise you for the riches of my inheritance in-Christ. Amen.

Today in-Christ

I’ll prayerfully consider three values (or truths) and ask the Lord to make them the treasured cornerstone of my life and my family legacy.

Matthew 6:20-21 (KJV)

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Legacy

Faces soon forgotten

Our sweetest memories pass

Dim voices growing older

History covers over

In wind-blown, prairie grass.

What is, will not remain

Today will not sustain

Nothing to which we cling

Nothing we can give or bring

To the lives of those who follow

Has my living been so hollow?

What of us will be remembered

One generation nigh?

Our might and knowledge, fancied things

Endure no more than dead-moth wings

Oh my, how time does fly.

Still something of surpassing worth

Calls to me at close of day

Rare and priceless words so pure

So precious; they alone endure

They alone will surely stay

When all the other voices fade

And we have marched our last parade

Yes, even then three words will stand

Championing the Hope of Man

I Love You

Rings the message clear

Spoken to all with receiving ear

Three words Christ speaks through all of Time

I pray I may receive as mine

Three words not only said but done

God’s gift to us: His precious Son

Christ lived to die and lives again

Reaching for the heart of Man.

The measure of a life lived-well

Never found in power or wealth

But in the sacrifice God made

The treasure is in what He gave

And by His grace has proven true

God’s living legacy

I Love You.

May we first receive from Him

Then boldly pass it on again

When all within this life has passed

I Love You

Sings the prairie grass.