My kids are helping me face the limits of time and the importance of legacies. Let me explain.

Monieca and I took Liam and Jacqueline to a studio to have photographs taken. They’re moving to Italy this summer and we’re making the most of our time together before the move. The pictures turned out great, but the best one (in my humble opinion) was of my grandson and me in our UK Wildcats colors. Afterward we met Steven for dinner. He works for Vanguard and his ID badge was still attached to his dress clothes when he entered the restaurant. Monieca and I both had the same thought…he looked nice, grown up and professional…and we’re not as young as we used to be.

It’s not that we think of ourselves as being old. I’m only 54 and she is (well I’d better not say). Hopefully we have many years together in front of us. But when we moved to South Carolina 28 years ago, I was a young pastor with decades of ministry in front of him and a future full of exciting possibilities. The future is still filled with exciting possibilities, but I no longer have decades of ministry before me. I now have a decade. My time is limited and my legacy is already being written.

The future always belongs to the generation that comes after us. God created time, thus He created this natural transition in life. What are we to do? Do our best to serve Him in the time we have and do all we can to help those coming after us to seize the future God has for them. This will result in a legacy that honors God and blesses them.

As parents we have a sense of this. As churches we often fail to realize we have the same responsibility. We often make the future about us more than those coming after us. Sometimes we even try to hold them back instead of helping them soar forward.

I look forward to the remaining years of ministry God will give me and I’m choosing to enjoy this new season. I also pray that when I’m finished, I will have helped those coming after me to
become the church has called them to be.

Pastor Steve Hogg