Reading: Cooperstown, New York is home to a special place for baseball fans from around the world. It’s not a large city, and it’s not home to an MLB franchise — yet people travel from around the world to come and visit. Cooperstown is home to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. It is home to decades upon decades of legacies - legacies of some of the best players to ever play the game and the countless stories that accompany them. People who visit remember certain plays, defining moments, and World Series Championships from some of their favorite players. A legacy is something that is left behind once we’re gone — something that we are remembered by. Legacies, however, aren’t just something that baseball players get a chance to write. Each of us, in the sum of our every day life, have the chance to leave a legacy.

Peter, in writing this letter, thought very intentionally about the legacy he was leaving to fellow believers. He says in 2 Peter 1:15, “And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.” 

But what exactly is he wanting these people to remember? Back in verse 12, he addresses a question some of the readers may have been thinking. He knew many of them already grasped and were “firmly established” in the truth he shared. Yet, to Peter it was really important to be reminded of the foundational aspects of our faith. John felt a similar way when writing 1 John when he said in 1 John 2:21, “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and no lie comes from the truth.”

Peter knew he wouldn’t spend forever here — he even called his body a “tent”. What a great description of our bodies here on earth! There was urgency in his writing to communicate his lasting impression for the church — his legacy. A legacy written for the glory of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:1 says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” We have a short while to work our “tents” here on earth, however, God promises us a lasting legacy in his kingdom.

Reflection: What are you hoping will last in your legacy? Is it more about you or about God?

Prayer Prompt: Father, thank you for where you have placed me. Thank you for those around me and the people I interact with daily. I pray that you would work through me to write a legacy for the gospel. Let me cling to your Word to stay rooted in my relationship with you. Help me see those who need to hear your Word around me and give me the courage to live a life set apart for you. Everything I need can be found in you, Jesus. Let me fix my eyes on you and keep me from becoming distracted by the world. I love you, Jesus.