Passing on a Legacy

6 Oct 2013 by Natasha Kim CM-

Pastor Dr Lee Choo recently preached at SunwayMas Community Centre (SMCC) about the importance of transiting this era to the next era. In our time, we are privileged to see many churches being headed by Malaysians. More than a hundred years ago this was unheard of in the pagan society of Malaya. The great missionaries that travelled from throughout the world to Malaysia laid down the foundations of the gospel and did a superb job. Through them, we’ve inherited the knowledge and now the word is out! Many more people are coming to know the gospel through the mothers and fathers of the land.

According to the Bible, Moses was faithful to God throughout his journey in life even though he did not get to see the Promised Land being conquered throughout the Mediterranean. Moses passed the legacy on to Joshua to further pass it on. This is the same with the missionaries from years ago. They could not even begin to imagine how many people are praising God on this day because of their faithfulness to God. “This is what passing on a legacy is all about!” shared Lee Choo.

God’s Kingdom comes from Heaven to Earth through his People

Passing on a legacy is very much like passing a baton. The relay teams from the Unites States of America were the top competitors, winning many world records since the early 90’s. However, the Beijing Olympics in year 2008 was marred when both the men and women’s relay team dropped the baton and did not even qualify for the finals. When the baton is dropped, the whole team is disqualified.

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

(Joshua 24:14-25)

How did Joshua pass on his legacy?

1. Remember to Connect Present to Past – The history and the stories of our ancestors is always the link between the past, present and the future. We need to remember what God has done.

"Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.” (Joshua 23:6)

2. Serve – Serve the Lord in whatever capacity you can.

3. Renew your Commitment – Fear the Lord and serve Him. It is the choices of each generation that determines the future.

On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws.

(Joshua 24:25)

When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, he summoned the elders, leaders, officials, and judges and talked to them about the faithfulness of God and what it has done to the nations. At that stage, they had already entered the Promised Land. Joshua told this next generation that they would take possession of more and more of the lands and finally passed on the legacy. What Joshua did was share the story of his journey with God, of the children he led into the promised land ,and the spirit that he inherited as he went into battle.

When the Baton doesn’t reach all the way

Lee Choo has been to nations that are not strong in the Word of God. “Something didn’t get right on the way,” she said. When the baton is not passed properly, there will be a fall in the generations to come and it would be like going backwards into the Stone Age, a time where people were lost.

Though the people whom Joshua chose made a choice to pass on the legacy and serve God, the two generations after them did not know God. “The next generation after Joshua did not enter in a relationship with God through serving God. They had no battles to fight and no histories to tell, no story to tell… no personal encounter with God. They could not say 'I love the Lord,' because they loved their possessions more and because of that, they didn’t live their belief and did what was right in their own eyes,” she shared.

After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. ¹¹Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹²They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger ¹³because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. ¹⁴In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

(Judges 2:10)

Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, “We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.” ¹¹The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, ¹²the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites^[^c^] oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? ¹³But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. ¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble."

(Judges 10 – 13)

The parents of the fallen generation told them that God is a good God and about the need to pray, but the children never saw their parents open the Bible, never saw their fathers take their problems through God in prayer or heard how God appeared for their family. “Don’t just know the word of God, study it, live in it, apply it, live by it, and praise it. God says to you, if you will meditate on my word both day and night and apply it, you will have good success!” she said.

This is the legacy of God. God doesn’t want us to fail or to be oppressed. He wants us to be the head and not the tail, a person who lends to man and borrows from none. “Passing the baton is not an option if we want to see the next generation inherit the blessings and the kingdom of God,” she shared.

Present Choices determine Future Generations

What does passing on a legacy really mean? Is it just passing on instructions of rules and regulations? The Lord told Lee Choo to remind everyone that when the people of God are gathered each week in prayer or in times when messages are given, this is the passing of a legacy. When we gather together, it is life imparting to life, of something that God has done through the years of service.

One way to pass on a legacy is to invite people to join you in your prayer meetings. If you want to know what a person’s life is like, join them in their prayer times. “Prayer times, is the wisest time to join a leader because the way a leader prays, tells you a lot about the way they relate to God,” she said. It is impossible to tell someone everything that God has done for us and that is why the journey begins in times of gatherings, fellowship, prayer meetings and impartation.

“As far as I’m concerned, it was God who chose Joshua to inherit the legacy from Moses but when it came to Joshua’s time, God wanted the leaders, officials, and judges to catch this legacy. It was no longer a one man show,” shared Lee Choo. It is the time for the masses and for every man to inherit the legacy because the land is vast. “Each person is made for a specific task for a specific era. You have been born for such a time as this,” she said. “When I say 'I love you Jesus,' it’s a statement made in the furnace of afflictions. I had to go through difficulties, robberies, fire, riots, and disappointments. And after all that, am still able to stand in front of you and say 'I love you Jesus', it is no small thing,” she said.

“If you don’t run this race, then before long the next generation and your children will go back to being frightened,” she said. Make the choice to run your sector of the race and to pass the baton to serve God's purpose!

God plants the seed of His Word in our hearts. He carefully cultivates it until it grows and bears fruit. Successful Christian living is leaving a legacy that transcends time. After all, we are living for eternity! Now you choose whether to take that baton! God has been faithful that is why we have a legacy to pass on. “It is the legacy of God’s faithfulness to take us to where He wants us to go,” she said.

“Our days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare for our last day. The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives. What preparations should we be making now? The greatest waste in all of our earth, which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is our waste of time that God has given us each day.”

Billy Graham