26Jan17

Psalm 15:3-5
Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the LORD, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.

How do you want to be remembered? Every day we are putting accomplishments and failures into the jars of our lives. Back in elementary school we would do a craft where we put different colored sands into a jar. We'd start with one color and lay down a layer and then add the next until the jar was full of different colors. Once it was full we'd put the lid on and "voilà"... art. I was so happy with mine... until I shook it up. Then all the colors blended together to reveal a nasty cacophony of color that generally just looked, like mud in a jar, brown. That's how our legacy is built though. Every day we have interactions with people that add sand to the jar. When we keep them consistent with our character, as we see in the verse above, then when it is shaken up at the end people may draw out a great color. But, when we throw in some nasty colors, horrible actions, offenses against people, then we end up with a nasty color that sums up how people remember us. No one wants to be remembered at "that guy" or "he was alright." We want to leave a lasting memory of greatness. So, start today. Add the good sand with every choice you make and every person you interact with. What does your sand art look like today?