Today I saw in the news that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is trying to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France victories and everything else he has won because of doping. This is a huge deal, as it would wipe out a man’s legacy. He admits he is not guilty but the USADA says he is. As I was reading about this I could not help but think about the word truth. Someone is not telling the truth. This lead me to think about the legacy we all have. Everyone has a legacy that they will one day be judged for. Some like Lance Armstrong have huge legacies. As we go through this life are we building a legacy that will pass judgement? We will all stand before the judge and all truth will be revealed. There will be no uncertainty about truth when we stand in judgement on that final day. Unlike these drug testing cases where there is much uncertainty about the truth of the matter, there will be no question as to whether our legacy was solid and truthful or all for nothing. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Have we followed the word of God and lived wholeheartedly for Jesus? Have we lived a life worthy of praise from Jesus Christ or will we be judged and our legacy be stripped away?
Matthew 25 states: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.41 “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. ”
As Christ-followers we need to leave a legacy of obedience and belief in Jesus Christ and his word. There will be many both Christian and non-Christian alike who on that day will find out they lived their lives for nothing. All that they worked for will be stripped away. The kingdoms they have built will be destroyed and their lives meaningless. Sometimes it is hard to see the legacies being created and the success of those building their own kingdoms but as David said in Psalm 73 “When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply 17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” We need to be sure that what we are doing on this earth is pure and blameless before God. There is a final day coming where we will stand before the king in judgement. Will your legacy stand or be stripped away?
