Life happens. The sun goes up and it goes down; weeks turn into months; months years; years decades; decades turn into a life time and then what is left behind?
Some leave inheritances fit for kings; some have a large family that remains and another an architectural marvel. Many try to leave their mark on history; some to greater extents and some to lesser degrees than others.
Is there anything that we can build that will last?
There is coming a time when the Earth and Heaven, as we know them, will cease to exist (Revelation 21:1). There will be no more of today’s wonders, man-made or natural. What hope is there then that we can produce anything lasting?
Believe it or not, there is one thing that we can build that will last beyond the passing away of this first heaven and earth…CHARACTER! That is, Godly character.
The word character comes from the Greek word for engraving. It means to exactly represent another image. In Hebrews 1:3, Christ is said to have the express image (Greek: charakter) of God. In the same way, we are to become like God by living by His every word (Matthew 4:4) and following the example of Christ (1 Peter 2:21). We are to strive for the perfection that God is (Matthew 5:48; Hebrews 6:1) and if we do so we will indeed be building the Character of God.
If we work hard at building Godly character and use the tools available to do so, we won’t need to leave anything else behind, because God will see to it that we will live for eternity. In the very end, the only thing that will be around, that we can affect, is this Character and subsequently our place in the God family.