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Day 10. Legacy Focused Life
Our last leadership lesson comes from Nehemiah thinking about his legacy. To be honest, this is not something I focused on in studying the Book of Nehemiah until recently. Earlier this year, I heard a podcast of a sermon from Christ Community Chapel in Hudson, Ohio. This was the first church I attended after becoming a Christ follower when I lived in Northeast Ohio. The founding pastor, Jim Colledge, was talking about the importance of living a life conscious of your legacy and used Nehemiah as his supporting Scripture. In his sermon, he explained that Nehemiah's life provides a "template for our legacy."
After I listened to Pastor Jim's sermon, I went back and re-read Nehemiah. With my new “legacy template” lens, the narrative jumped off the pages. Nehemiah acted with the understanding that his life would impact those who would come after him and the last line in his biography is "Remember me, O my God, for good."
Whether you are a Christian or not, I think everyone understands that they want to be part of something bigger than themselves. We all want to be remembered!
Nehemiah’s legacy is strong. Think about it – you have spent the last ten days studying his life over 2,500 years after Nehemiah walked the earth!
Nehemiah's work went on to impact generations after him. Many scholars believe that the walls around Jerusalem that he and his recruits rebuilt were still standing when Jesus walked the earth. That means they would have been the same wall Jesus passed by as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Nehemiah’s legacy is a direct result of being open and responsive to the adventure to which God called him.
To what adventures might God be calling you? Like I said on the first day – pay attention to the things that break your heart, then look to the life of Nehemiah as a roadmap for operationalizing that vision and ultimately leaving a legacy for those who come after you.
To finish the study today, I'd like you to read a Psalm written about this second restoration of Jerusalem after the completion of Nehemiah's work.
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About this Plan
Nehemiah was a visionary leader, innovator, and statesman. I believe that the Book of Nehemiah is as good an entrepreneur’s case study as any I use in the classes I teach at Carnegie Mellon. It offers lessons in leadership on par with well-documented examples of exemplary leadership from modern CEOs. Over the course of this 10-day study, we are going to learn by studying the life of Nehemiah.
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