Eternal Legacy 永恒的基业
Dexu Xia
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners. Ecclesiastes 5:13
As Dust Bowl sandstorms ravaged the United States during the Great Depression, John Millburn Davis, a resident of Hiawatha, Kansas, decided to make a name for himself. A self-made millionaire with no children, Davis might have invested in charity or economic development. Instead, at great expense, he commissioned eleven life-size statues of himself and his deceased wife to stand in the local cemetery.
“They hate me in Kansas,” Davis told journalist Ernie Pyle. Local residents wanted him to fund the construction of public facilities like a hospital, swimming pool, or park. Yet all he said was, “It’s my money and I spend it the way I please.”
King Solomon, the wealthiest man of his day, wrote, “Whoever loves money never has enough,” and “as goods increase, so do those who consume them” (Ecclesiastes 5:10–11). Solomon had grown keenly aware of the corrupting tendencies of wealth.
The apostle Paul also understood the temptation of wealth and chose to invest his life in obedience to Jesus. Awaiting execution in a Roman prison, he wrote triumphantly, “I am already being poured out like a drink offering . . . . I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:6–7).
What lasts isn’t what we chisel in stone or hoard for ourselves. It’s what we give out of love for each other and for Him—the One who shows us how to love.
By: Tim Gustafson
What will others remember about you? What changes might you need to make as you ponder your eternal legacy?
Heavenly Father, please help me pour out my life for others in some small way today.
我见日光之下，有一宗大祸患：就是财主积存资财，反害自己。—传道书5章13节
经济大萧条时期，干旱引起的沙尘暴使美国经济雪上加霜。在这样的时刻，堪萨斯州海华沙市的居民约翰·米尔本·戴维斯（John Millburn Davis）决定要使自己留名千古。作为一位白手起家且膝下无子的百万富翁，戴维斯可以投资慈善事业或经济发展，但他却不惜耗费钜资，请人为自己及已故的妻子雕塑十一座真人大小的石头雕像，矗立在当地墓园。
戴维斯告诉记者厄尼·派尔（Ernie Pyle）：“堪萨斯人很讨厌我。”当地居民要他出资兴建医院、游泳池或公园等公共设施，但他只说：“这是我的钱，我爱怎么花就怎么花。”
所罗门王是他那个时代最富有的人，他写道：“贪爱银子的，不因得银子知足”，“货物增添，吃的人也增添”（传道书5章10-11节）。所罗门王已经敏锐地察觉财富会带来败坏。
使徒保罗也明白财富的诱惑，因而选择以自己的一生来服事耶稣。当他在罗马监狱等候处决时，欣然写道：“我现在被浇奠，……当跑的路我已经跑尽了；所信的道我已经守住了。”（提摩太后书4章6-7节）
那能持久留存的不是我们雕刻在石头上的，也不是为自己囤积的，而是我们出于对他人、对上帝的爱所做的付出。这位上帝早已向我们展示如何去爱。
作者： 葛庭墨
你认为将来别人会怎样记念你？
想到你留存的永恒基业，你可能需要做出什么改变？
你是否常觉得时间不够用？待办事项很多，生活仿佛不断跟时间赛跑......怎么做才能有好的时间管理？
天父，求祢让我愿意为他人付出，帮助我今日就能从小事开始。