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Leaving a Legacy




There is a Hebrew fable about a young man walking down an old farm road. As he walked, he noticed an aged farmer planting carob trees. Curious, the traveler stopped and asked the farmer, “How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?”

“Seventy years,” was the old man’s matter-of-fact reply. A bit confused, the traveler questioned the farmer again and asked, “Surely, you don’t expect to still be here when these trees finally produce their fruit! Why go to all the trouble?”

The farmer paused, looked up from his work, wiped a bit of sweat of his brow and directed his gaze at the young man as he responded, “You are correct, I will be long gone when it is time to harvest their fruit, but when I was born into this world, I benefitted from the fruit of many trees planted by my grandfather and those before him. Trees I did not plant, nor did I work to cultivate. Just as they did for me, I am planting these trees for my grandchildren and the generations that follow.”

You have been blessed to eat the fruit from the sacrifice of many generations before you. Fruit for which you did not work, coming from trees you did not plant. Too many around you merely want to pick that fruit and be satisfied in providing for only their needs. Tragically, they will never know the blessing that comes from providing for others. Leave a legacy and plant for the generations ahead.  

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