Legacy

"Sometimes it just seems like people work and work and work somewhere, and then they leave. And nobody remembers them. We all just keep moving on like we always have. It makes me wonder why we all work so darn hard."

This is a quote from a woman that I meet regularly with in a prayer group at work. I don't now recall how it even came up, but we were discussing the idea of leaving a legacy. It's been months since this conversation, but her words still haunt me. And the part that haunts me the most is that from her perspective, she was completely right. To build a legacy at a particular place for people to remember you for your good works is completely pointless. People will forget you. Eventually, your memory on this earth will be gone. Work as I may, my work will eventually be changed by someone else, students will graduate, staff and faculty will move on, and I will be forgotten. 

But perhaps we need to view the idea of legacy from a different vantage point. What if we stop working to be remembered by men? What if we did our work for the glory of God? To build God's legacy? It gives reason to work so hard - to pour my heart into the work I do. When I'm gone, all I want is the glow of God's light left in my place. And even when my personal legacy fades into time, God's legacy will live on. That's what I work for.