Webster’s Dictionary defines a legacy as “something coming from a predecessor.” It’s what we leave behind that others will remember us by. As I have contemplated my predecessors, and what their legacies have been, my mother comes quickly to mind. Besides her sparkling wit, her commitment to world evangelism, her devotion to my father, and her fierce loyalty to her children, the legacy that stands out above all else is the legacy of God’s Word. She loved it!

She spent hours reading and studying it. At the end of her life, she was still memorizing passages from it. As a result, hers was a life well lived. Because she didn’t just obey God’s Word, she increasingly grew passionately in love with the One who is revealed in its pages. Her legacy is summarized by the inscription she wrote in the flyleaf of the Bible she gave to me on the day I was baptized. It was a navy-blue Scofield King James Version that I treasure to this day. The inscription reads, To Anne, (Who on this January 13, 1957 publicly took her stand for Christ, her Savior.)  We give this Book, your one sure guide in an unsure world. Read it, study it, love it, live it. In it you will find a verse for every occasion. Hide them in your heart. 
We love you.
- Mother

Her words could have been inscribed just on a page, except for the fact that I also saw them inscribed on her life. Their meaning is her legacy that ripples throughout my own life, my family and my ministry. I have taken her counsel since the day I was baptized. I have read God’s Word, studied it, loved it, lived it…and done my best to share it with others. It has now been nineteen years since my mother moved to our Father’s House, yet her legacy is a spiritual inheritance that continues to bless me, my three children and three grandchildren.

Which leads me to wonder…What can I do today to make sure that I leave a rich spiritual inheritance for my children’s children tomorrow?  What will be my legacy to those who come after me?  Can I pass my mother’s legacy on to you through our Bible studies, video curricula, and our family’s treasure, Daily Light?

My prayer is that the legacy of my mother’s instruction, which was passed on to me and inscribed in my baptismal Bible, would be passed on to you also. Read God’s Word. Study it. Love it. Live it. Share it with others. In our very unsure world, it will be your sure, firm foundation.