Statues are a remembrance of something or someone that is somehow thought to be significant. There are family properties and riches, as well as heirlooms and valuables of all kinds that are bequeathed to the generations – older to the younger.

Do these kinds of things matter to the Lord? I believe that they do. But these are not the true riches that are available to every believer. The “true riches” are things that cannot be purchased with silver or gold or shrewd business practices. These “true riches” cannot be kept in a safe deposit or contracted in a court of law, nor can they be spent by the generations that receive them. No, the “true riches” of the Kingdom of heaven are those spiritual substances that are left for the generations to come.

I once heard V. T. Williams, a great preacher from Jamaica, say,

“Too many of the graveyards around here are the richest ground that can be found. Too many lives populated that cemetery without leaving the true riches to those who would succeed them. They took their riches and buried them.”

The principle is that legacy is important and something that needs to be considered by us. Mothers and fathers need to give their “true riches” to their children – they need to give the “true riches” to their true heirs.

Proverbs 13:22 tells us that,

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…”

True riches are issues of the heart. It takes a generous heart to administer “true riches” – or, riches of any kind. Generous hearts are always that. Generous. Sincerely generous. Furthermore, the truly richest people on earth are the most generous people, not the people with the most money or stuff. It’s funny how generous people still have money and stuff too.

I would like to enlighten the subject of some “matters of the heart” when it comes to building a legacy of your life.

Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” And, “Man looks upon the outward appearance but God looks upon the heart.” There is no sin in money and stuff. Money and stuff are neutral and have no implications of good or evil at all.

Thus, wealth is a heart issue. Mother Theresa was arguably the richest woman in the world at the time of her death. Yet, she had nothing of her own. She could have called on any number of corporate jets to be at her service and did so. She sat at tables with the most influential people of the world and simply tried to convince them to give their lives and their money so they could be wealthy like her. What a divine paradox!

Something I regularly teach concerning king David: “If David’s heart was that of a worshiper, a warrior and a builder of the house of the Lord, should our hearts not be the same? Should we not want our lives to outwardly example the inward desires that make our hearts so full? Shouldn’t we want the house of the Lord to be built and supplied with all manner of good so that our legacy will remain?”

David may have been king, but his heart didn’t think so. He was always a shepherd, a giver, and one who desired to give the best to Yehovah and the people of the Lord. Thus, he is called the “great king.”

Sometime after becoming king, David looked out from his palace upon the “Tent Of The Lord,” and said, “Why am I living in this cedar paneled palace while you are living outside in a tent? I know what I’ll do, I’ll build you a House!” The prophet, Nathan, said to him, “It would not even be in your heart to do so, had the Lord not put it there!” Thus, David’s heart was filled with the will of God to live in the people’s midst. David’s heart was like the Lord’s great heart.

In the 1980’s a Christian music group called “Sweet Comfort Band” did a song that said, “It’s a good, good feelin’ to give your life away…” I believe that. I really do. The richest are the lovers and lovers are givers and givers are the greatest.

Ministries should be building legacy for the people to invest. Individuals, families, and businesses ought to have an ability to invest in the ministry’s legacy plan. This means that something is being built. A foundation is being laid, and a “house of the Lord” is being constructed on that foundation.

The land will never go away. Any ministry that owns land has a prosperity from heaven that is little understood. Although buildings don’t last forever, the land does, and buildings can be remodeled and rebuilt to serve the life giving presence of the Holy Spirit on that land. Both land and building will abide after the investors are passed away. Therefore there is an everlasting existence of the investment made.

Peter declared that the Holy Spirit and His presence would be unto the believer, the believer’s children, and the believer’s children’s children, and as many as are afar off, (in eras or times). There is such a great sense of legacy in this revealed character of the Lord.

There is a difference between the important work of operating a ministry, ministering to people, getting things done, etc., and actually building a legacy. We received the tithes and offerings for the operations of the house of the Lord, and the people who give so generously are blessed by the Lord. But, I suggest to you that God the Father in His abundant life’s plan has also given the dimension of investment in the Kingdom of God to see to it that the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus continues from one generation to another. Both of these forms of offering and presentations of giving unto the people are uniquely valid and most definitely in the great heart of God the Father.

Ministries should minister. Ministries should seek to own land. Ministries should build. One can super-spiritualize this principle and say that the building has no worth in the Kingdom. That is a sad testimony, however, and a lack of the kind of prosperity that is moving forward in the lives of people who want to assure a legacy of the Kingdom God’s dear Son to their posterity.

So, let us build the house of the Lord together. Let us invest in that which will remain upon this earth long after we are gone. Together let us give of the substance of our lives to build a dwelling place for the Most High! When we do, He will abide with us.

So here are a couple of “Tweetable thoughts”:

The week Mother Theresa died, Princess Diana died as well. The richest and the poorest died the same week. Which one is which?

You will never lose in any transaction that you do with the Lord. “Give, and it shall be given…”

We should all think on these things…