Here at Inheritance of Hope, one of the things we do is encourage families to be intentional–intentional with their loved ones, their time, and their legacies. Some of you have been direct beneficiaries of this kind of intentionality because someone tangibly showed that they loved you through a Legacy Video™, handwritten notes, a gift, or another meaningful action.
Others of you may be unfamiliar with this type of intentionality. You may not be facing a sickness, nor have you had a loved one affected by a terminal illness.
But what if I told you that we all could be intentional?
I have thought about this a lot for several months. What triggered this thinking was a Bible reading plan we did in Jill Thompson’s Friday Gatherings last spring. One day during this particular week, we read Psalm 90:12, which says, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
I had heard this verse my whole life, but I felt like I read it for the first time. It’s pretty easy to ask God for a long life filled with many days, but this verse is telling us the opposite. Instead of it saying “increase our days!” it says that we should “number our days.”
My ESV Study Bible has a note that says,
“In view of the psalm’s theme, this refers especially to the ability to make the most of one’s days, since they are so few. The heart of wisdom would enable the faithful to live by the right priorities.”
So how do we make the most of our days, especially when we still live in uncertain times?
We live for today.
There are several places in the Bible where we are called to focus on this. Proverbs 27:1 tells us not to boast about tomorrow, and Matthew 6:34 says to “not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”
Clearly, God wants us to be intentional with today and there are two ways I want to encourage you to do this:
The first is to be intentional with your faith. You’re already off to a great start because you’re here. You’ve given of your time, your talents, and your treasures to be serving God this weekend. You’re tired and probably feeling sore, yet you still have a smile on your face because you’re experiencing joy from the Lord. You may not know the exact impact you’re making on these families, but you can trust that God is faithfully using you because you faithfully answered the call to serve Him. This is a big part of your spiritual legacy.
Other ways to be intentional with your faith is to spend time in Scripture and keep notes on what God is teaching you. I’ve had a journaling Bible for almost seven years and it has been a faithful friend where I can write different thoughts or prayers. I can look back on notes from specific dates and remember God carrying me through different seasons. It’s something I hope to pass down to my future children one day. A prayer journal is also a great place to write out your daily prayers and look back on to be reminded of God’s faithfulness. You could even create a “faithfulness jar” with pieces of paper documenting these moments.
The second thing I encourage you to be intentional with is your legacy. I’ve had to wrestle with this because for some of us, it may feel like we need to be at a certain place in our lives to start. You may say, “I’ll start when I graduate…” “I’ll start when I get married…” “I’ll start when my kids are older…” “I’ll start after I retire…” and on and on we can go. But like I mentioned, the Bible is calling us to be intentional with today. So here are a few ideas:
- Keep a journal – daily, weekly, once in a while–whatever works for you.
- Take pictures – capture moments, even the mundane ones. It all matters. Put these pictures in a scrapbook or in a place where they can easily be looked at. Social media is great for this too!
- Video or audio recordings – this is a great way to share a moment from your day, a funny story, a memory, or really anything that comes to mind that could be meaningful to others. You can easily do this on your phone, or we can help you record a Legacy Video™.
- Download our Hope@Home™ App: If you haven’t already, I encourage you to download our app because there are many other ideas and different prompts that can help build your legacy
Whatever you do today, I pray you will be intentional and live for today. None of us will have this day again, so let’s make it count.
Anna Conti is Inheritance of Hope’s Marketing & Communications Manager. She originally shared this devotional with the Orlando Legacy Retreat® team in March 2022.
