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After graduating from Moody Bible Institute years ago, Mary McLeod Bethune established a school now named Bethune-Cookman College. At her retirement, she had little wealth, but she listed what she could bequeath. She said, I leave you love, hope, the challenge of developing confidence in one another, a thirst for education, respect for the use of power, faith in God, racial dignity, a desire to live harmoniously with others, and a responsibility for our youth. When Jacob was about to die, his son Joseph took his two sons to him so his father could bless them before he died. We read in Gen 48 that in preparing to bless Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob based his blessing on three key considerations. He claimed the covenant God made with his ancestors Abraham, Isaac, as well as with him. He based his blessing upon his own experience of having God shepherd and nurture him all of his life; and he based his blessing upon God’s faithfulness in delivering him from dangers seen and unseen. Based on what Jacob believed about what God said, and about what he knew from experience, he bequeathed to Joseph’s sons an exciting future. He rejected the custom that the older boy should get the greater blessing. He said God would bless Joseph’s younger son Ephraim to excel as a leader in his nation. We should ask ourselves, “What will we leave as a legacy to our offspring?”
