Jeremiah 42:1-44:23 / 2 Timothy 2:1-21 / Psalm 92-93 / Proverbs 26:3-5
I don’t know where you are regarding your season of life. You may be young, middle-aged, or older. You may be single, newly married, married with children, or a grandparent (one of the most amazing roles one can attain!). One thing is sure, we all have a certain number of years to live on planet earth. As a matter of fact, God already knows the number of our days. I personally take comfort knowing that He has lovingly planned my days.
As I approach the “fall” season of my life – I’ll be 59 soon – I am beginning to consider how I want to spend the rest of my years. I plan to live a long life; I’m asking God for 120 years like Caleb’s number of years on earth. My dad asked for the same number of years, but God invited him to join Him in Heaven at the age of 78. Whatever God has planned for me, I trust Him.
We all want to live our years well. We want to honor God, love people, and leave a strong legacy in our children, grandchildren, family, and friends God has placed in our lives. We want to be remembered for having loved God and loved people. We are not quitters or those who do things half-heartedly. We are tenacious, strong, loving and kind.
If you were to ponder your legacy and how you want to spend your remaining years, whether many or few, how would you want to be remembered? We must first plan, then we must faithfully do small things every day that align with that plan. Planning without action will not leave the legacy we desire.
I love the verses in Psalm 92:12-15. Here are those verse in The Passion Translation, (TPT). Yes! Look how you’ve made all your devoted lovers to flourish like palm trees, each one growing in victory, standing with strength! You’ve transplanted them into your heavenly courtyard, where they are thriving before you, for in your presence they will still overflow and be anointed. Even in their old age they will stay fresh, bearing luscious fruit and abiding faithfully. Listen to them! With pleasure they still proclaim: “You’re so good! You’re my beautiful strength! You’ve never made a mistake with me.”
We could stop there because that describes so well what a beautiful legacy would look like. Who does not want to flourish like a palm tree? Or to grow in victory and strength? We’ve been transplanted from an earthly existence and perspective to a heavenly one (although our physical body is still planted on earth!). We are thriving, we overflow, and we are anointed. Even in old age, we will be fresh and bear fruit. What amazing promises!
Let’s get more understanding of a few words from the verses in Psalm 92. I want to look at the word “flourish” and it’s meaning. I want to look at the word “strength,” and finally, I want to look at the words “abiding faithfully.” These are some amazing words to explore.
Flourish means to bud, sprout, send out shoots and blossom. That describes every stage of growth. I especially like that we will send out shoots because that speaks of giving what we have to others. And blossom is indicative of bearing fruit. Bearing fruit is a strong sign of a healthy and growing person.
The word strength in the TPT refers to growing like a cedar of Lebanon in the New Living Translation, (NLT). The picture here is that a cedar tree grows strong because of the tenacity of its root system. Cedar trees are tall and widespread, also denoting stability and strength.
Abiding faithfully in TPT is stated as staying fresh and green, in the NLT, and as fat in the King James Version, (KJV). And no, I’m not calling any of us fat! LOL. This meaning is spoken of as substantive, vigorous, and stalwart in the Strong’s Concordance.
My prayer is that all of us will find ourselves living according to this beautiful legacy until we leave earth. We can maintain a loving, beautiful heart and we can trust God that our physical bodies will allow us to fulfill His will until we are also invited to join Him in Heaven.
