OK, guilty. I have spent too much time worrying about my legacy. I have realized that I need to be more concerned about my daily obedience in following Christ.
Our Discipleship Class is studying the life and epistles of Peter. In our lesson this past Sunday morning was this statement: "Suppose God wants to teach you to say, 'I know how to be abased' - are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in the bucket-to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served?"
Now look, I don't want to have my life considered insignificant. To the contrary I would like to die knowing that my life made a difference, at least to one or two people. I want people to think of me and remember the good person that I was and the positive things I represented and did for people. To be 'abased' does not sound like fun at all. Just look at these synonyms for abase - humble, humiliate, belittle, demean, lower, degrade, debase, cheapen, discredit. I think I can safely say, unlike Paul in Philippians 4:12, I do not know how to be abased.
God does not expect me to like being abased for His name, but He does want me to be willing if that is what comes my way. He is more concerned that I follow Him in obedience day by day without concern for what history may say of me. I must be willing to be insignificant in the eyes of the world in order to be significant in His world to come. In fact, maybe when people look at my life and see that I was an obedient disciple that would be the ultimate significance.
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