I Kings 16:28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
David was a mighty man. He was a great king, and even when he was a young man, he was a man of valor. We know him for defeating Goliath of Gath. Here is a young man besting a giant who was a warrior from his youth. Yet, no matter how great, how smart, how mighty, or how much they have done, everyone comes to the end of their time. When you think of David, you think of might and power, but there was a time when David’s power diminished. II Samuel 21:15 says, “David waxed faint.” This just means that his energy began to dissipate. In fact, those around David said, “David, you are too valuable to be fighting the Philistines or giants. Let someone else do that. We don’t need you to physically lead us into battle.”
In I Kings 2:2 David tells his successor, Solomon, “I go the way of all the earth.” The fact is, the people who are gone outnumber the people who are. We see a lot of people every day, but there are more people who have lived and died than there are people who are alive right now.
In I Kings 15:8, the Bible tells us the same thing it tells us throughout that chapter and into I Kings 16. It tells us of kings who lived, who ruled, who died, and whose sons reigned in their stead. In other words, we have a limited time. I Kings 16:28 is an example, “So Omri slept with his fathers.” He died and was buried just as everyone up to that point had been. It continues, “[He] was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.”
Ecclesiastes tells us that a living dog is better than a dead lion. So, regardless of what has been in the past, it is past. Regardless of how much power, might, money, or wisdom you have right now, there is coming a day when you will not have such things. In fact, you will not be at all. Your greatest legacy will be what you leave to the people who outlive you.
That is why you and I should be intent on what we teach our children. Here is a man who is building a great business or ministry. He has a four-year-old child back home who is really not much to look at. The child is not very old, not very smart, and not very strong. But that child will be in a place of leadership and significance long after that dad or mom is gone. What you invest in your children right now is the way you can have the most impact long after you are gone. You may be building something great right now, a business, a ministry, or some legacy, but you are going to be gone someday and even the things that you are building right now will not live longer than the people who outlive you. So, investing in our children is so important. Loving them, teaching them, and guiding them is the best way for us to have an impact on a world we will never see.
Maybe you don’t have children. Then invest in your charges, the people over whom you have responsibility. No matter your age or position, there is someone who is younger than you who does not have as much money, power, wisdom, or experience as you do. When you invest in such people, you are investing in the future. You are investing in people you can’t see who can have an influence on a future you will not see because you will not be here.
So, all these kings in the book of Kings, regardless of the individual stories, died and their sons reigned in their stead. Friend, your greatest legacy today will be what you leave to the people who outlive you.