Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 4:12 (ESV)
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Buying a cemetery plot for my stepdaughter afforded us the opportunity for my wife and I to buy one for ourselves too. We were fortunate enough to get the one next to where my father is buried and where my mother will go if she ever does (we call her the energizer bunny). My mom and dad are on the same headstone. My dad’s reads 1931 – 2002, my mom’s reads 1931 – .

Even if we don’t get a headstone right not, we have a dash in ours. It’s what we do after the dash that matters. It’s that short space between the end of the birth year and the start of the death year, the space dash space, that matters. I’ve been challenged to think of this several times in my life. At my dad’s funeral when I saw how many lives he had touched in a positive way, when in a men’s group when we were challenged to write our headstone (define the legacy we wanted to leave in a few words – try it), other times.

For to me, to live is Christ. We all leave a legacy. Some memorable, some not. Some great, some horrible. Some good, some bad, some meh.

Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Psalm 119:105 (ESV)
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Why does a legacy even matter? Simple – it impacts where your eternity will be spent. What will your headstone say?

Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Live the dash.