Heirlooms
Heirlooms
Psalm 71:18
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation.
As I write this, I’m currently sitting in a ratty, worn-out recliner that I keep as an heirloom from my late- great grandmother. This is the same recliner I’d always find her in whenever I’d visit her little house about five minutes down the road. She suffered for many years from blindness, diabetes, and other diseases, and the end of her life was misery, but she set an unshakable example to me of faithfulness to Christ amidst her agony. I still remember one precious moment in particular, as I walked across her porch and opened her screen door for a visit, finding her perched in that old recliner, with a large print Bible pressed to her face and a magnifying glass sandwiched between her eye and God’s words. That’s what a morning devotion was for her: a slow, letter by letter, painstaking discipline. I’ll never forget seeing the strain on her face as she tried to make out the words. But, as usual, when she heard me come in, she set her Bible down on her lap, greeted me with the warmest of smiles, and beckoned me over to her recliner for a kiss and a bear hug.
That’s why I keep that old recliner close to me to this day. That’s why I feel a comfort before the LORD whenever I sit in this chair and strain to find words, knowing that my beloved grandmother used to sit in this same chair and strain to read them. And although even this old recliner will eventually deteriorate with time and I’ll have to get rid of the heirloom, the vivid example my grandmother imprinted on my memory, an example of straining toward righteousness, of going to God even when the going is tough, of not merely taking a passing glance for a few moments but taking an intentioned, disciplined look, will only grow greater with time.
Friend, what example will you proclaim to the coming generations today? What testament to God’s faithfulness are you passing down to your children and grandchildren? Oh, that our simple lives of faith would make a lasting imprint on the next generation!